SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Nevada volleyball put up a tough battle, but ultimately couldn't hang on as the San Diego State Aztecs swept the Wolf Pack 3-0 Thursday evening at Peterson Court in San Diego in sets of 25-22, 25-23, and 25-22.  
 
Sia Liilii and Gabby McLaughlin led the Pack offensively with seven kills each. Jordan Schwartz and Bella Snyder each tallied four blocks.Freshman Koen Makaula earned a career-high five kills with a .444 hitting percentage. Additionally, Francesca King totaled 13 assists and eight digs while Hikialani Kaohelaulii had 11 digs and tied her career high of four service aces.
 
While boasting a 16-7 record over Nevada in their 22 all-time matchups, dating back to the 2011 season, the Pack broke San Diego State's four straight match winning streak after earning the win over the Aztecs at Virginia Street Gym in Reno this season 3-1, three weeks prior to Thursday night's meeting. The squads will split the season 1-1 as San Diego State snaps a four-match losing streak while Nevada will move to 7-17 and 3-9 in Mountain West play.
 
The Aztecs jumped up to a significant 6-2 lead over the Pack early to start the first set. To answer back, Nevada came within two points from San Diego State attack errors, but the Aztecs continued to climb, extending their lead by six off a 3-0 scoring run to force the Pack to take their first timeout. Going on their own 5-0 scoring run, Nevada came within two, after kills from Makaula and Snyder forced San Diego State to take its first timeout of the set. A double block from Nevada's Schwartz and Makaula put the squad back within one point at 16-15. Back-and-forth scoring runs from both sides allowed the Pack to come within one point for the third time since being down by seven, causing the Aztecs to react quickly and go up by three as Nevada took their second timeout of the set. San Diego State began to pull away closer to reaching set point, but a kill from Liilii and a service ace from Kaohelaulii put the Pack once again within two points, 22-20. San Diego State's Taylor Underwood earned her fourth kill of the set to claim the 25-22 victory in set one for the Aztecs.  
 
The Pack took control early in the second set, taking the 6-3 lead over San Diego State. A 3-0 scoring run by the Aztecs tied things up at 8-8 before both sides began trading points. Once again tying things up, the Aztecs went on their third 3-0 scoring run of the set to take over 15-13 at the media timeout. Continuing to trade points, Nevada went on a 3-0 scoring run to tie things up again at 16-16 a piece. Nevada cut the Aztecs lead back down by one after back-to-back kills from Liilii before an attack error called on San Diego State brought the score to 21-21. The Aztecs reached set point twice, but the Pack battled back, coming within one at 24-23 to keep their hopes of tying the match 1-1 alive. The Aztecs secured the second set thanks to Taylor Underwood and Amber Keen who went up for the block against McLaughlin's kill, taking the set and going up 2-0 over Nevada in the match.
 
After San Diego State went up by seven points to sit 9-2 early in the third, Nevada went on a 5-0 scoring run with three service aces by Kaohelaulii to come within one point at 12-11, forcing the Aztecs to take their first timeout of the set. A block from Liilii and Snyder allowed Nevada to tie the set 13-13. Two back-to-back attack errors on the Aztecs' Madison Corf put the Pack up 19-18 to retake the lead. San Diego State took the lead back, scoring two more points on an attack error by Nevada's Schwartz and a service error by McLaughlin. The Pack and Aztecs traded two points each before a service ace by Bailey Darnell gave San Diego State the final point to secure the third set 25-22 and completing the 3-0 sweep over Nevada, splitting the season 1-1 overall.
 
Up Next:
Nevada volleyball continues on the road, traveling down south to Las Vegas to take on the UNLV Rebels, the second matchup this season a part of the Silver State Series presented by America First Credit Union. The Pack upset UNLV 3-2 in the Silver State Series opener, earning the edge in the contest a little over three weeks ago at Virginia Street Gym. The match is available by streaming on the Mountain West Network at www.themw.com/watch or on the Mountain West Network app. Live stats are also available to follow along with HERE