PCAA Volleyball Tournament : No. 5 Aztecs Defeat Gauchos in Tough First-Round Match

San Diego State held off five match points before rallying for a 12-15, 9-15, 15-13, 21-19, 15-4 victory over UC Santa Barbara Thursday in the first round of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. women’s volleyball tournament.

The victory improved the No. 5 Aztecs’ record to 36-7.

SDSU’s victory over the Gauchos came down to the fourth game. No. 9 UCSB (24-11) led the entire game until the Aztecs rallied to tie the score at 13-13 on a kill by Kim Harsch.

With the score tied at 15-15, Angelica Jackson came off the bench to lead SDSU. Jackson scored four kills and three blocks, including the game-winning kill deep to the right corner.

SDSU breezed in the final game. The closest UCSB could get was 6-3.

“I feel we are back to our early season form,” SDSU Coach Rudy Suwara said. “This was one of our best matches of the year.”

Kim Harsch led the Aztecs with 26 kills. Kris Morton had 23 kills and 13 blocks and Sally Larsen added 22 kills and 12 blocks for the Aztecs. UCSB was led by outside hitter Sherry Rodgers, who had a match-high 30 kills.