Boise State Holds Off San Diego State for MW Road Victory

Thursday, October 24

San Diego, Calif.

7:00 p.m. (MT)

Boise State

13-7 (5-4MW)

San Diego State

9-11 (2-7MW)

Boise State

San Diego State

Photo by: Fabiana Huffaker

Boise State Holds Off San Diego State for MW Road Victory

10/24/2019 11:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Final Box (pdf)

A balanced offense helps the Broncos over Aztecs as five combine for 52 kills.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Boise State volleyball held on Thursday night behind a balanced offensive attack to win a five-set battle on the road at San Diego State, defeating the Aztecs 25-18, 16-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13. The match was long — two and half hours — and tight throughout as the teams traded sets starting with the Broncos taking the first, third and fifth, while the Aztecs took the other two. It was the third five-set match in the last four contests for the Blue and Orange, this time the Broncos broke through to snap a three-match losing streak and improved to 13-7 overall and 4-3 in Mountain West play.

BRONCOS WIN! Ohlinger wins it with her 13th kill of match as Broncos take the fifth 15-13 over San Diego State!

Donahue had 14 kills, Ohlinger 13, Lewis 12 and Duffy 9!

Broncos move to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in MW!#BleedBlue @BroncoSports @BoiseState @MW_OlySports pic.twitter.com/rI4yOCtUMJ
— Boise State VB (@BroncoSportsVB) October 25, 2019

"We're really excited about the win on the road tonight, it was a tough battle against San Diego State on their home floor," said head coach Shawn Garus. "But I think that the balanced offense that we had where lots of players had some production and contributed was the difference for us. Hopefully we can build on this and be ready for a good Fresno State team on Saturday."

Boise State's offense was powered by five players led by Jessica Donahue who hit a team-best 32.1 percent for a team-high 14 kills. Lauren Ohlinger followed with 13 kills, team-high three service aces, seven digs and one block. Kiley Lewis added 12 kills, two service aces, five digs and two blocks. Shae Duffy contributed nine kills, while Alyssa Wissinger chipped in with six.

BRONCOS WIN! Ohlinger wins it with her 13th kill of match as Broncos take the fifth 15-13 over San Diego State!

Donahue had 14 kills, Ohlinger 13, Lewis 12 and Duffy 9!

Broncos move to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in MW!#BleedBlue @BroncoSports @BoiseState @MW_OlySports pic.twitter.com/rI4yOCtUMJ
— Boise State VB (@BroncoSportsVB) October 25, 2019

Danielle Boss played a vital role in the offense as well distributing 41 assists, to go with two kills, two service aces and eight digs. Allison Casillas led the team with 11 digs.

Boise State hit the ball well in the three sets it won hitting above 20 percent in all three with a high of 29.2 percent in the fifth, in the two it lost the Broncos hit seven percent of less. Boise State finished the night hitting 16.3 percent compared to SDSU's 22.5 percent.

Defensively, the Broncos were strong once again tallying 14 blocks as a team to match the Aztecs total. Wissinger led the Blue and Orange with a team-high seven blocks, followed by Donahue with four — two solos — Duffy also had five blocks, followed by Boss with four.

The Broncos will now travel to Fresno State (12-9, 5-4 MW) for a 12:30 p.m. (Mountain) first serve on Saturday in the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs hosted Utah State tonight defeating the Aggies 3-0.

OTHER NOTABLES

The win moved head coach Shawn Garus to within one of 300 career coaching victories at 299.
Wissinger's team-high in blocks means she has led the Broncos in blocks in three straight contests, all with seven or more.
Lauren Ohlinger and Danielle Boss are now the only Broncos to have started every match this season.
The Broncos are now 12-4 on the year when leading or tied in blocks.
Boss' 41 assists tonight gives her 10 matches on the year with 40-plus.
This was only the second time Boise State won a match this season when hitting below 20 percent, the Broncos are 2-5 when hitting below 20 percent.
Boise State is now 11-3 when winning the first set and 2-2 in five-set matches.
The win makes the Broncos 9-8 all-time against San Diego State and 9-7 in MW meetings.