Two deficits, two finishing runs, then a clean third set. San Diego State earned its first Pac-12 volleyball victory Saturday by sweeping Fresno State 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 at the Save Mart Center.
The Aztecs arrived after three consecutive losses and trailed 6-1 before the first set had settled. Fresno State still led 20-17 late. SDSU answered with an 8-3 close, and Ella Schabort ended the frame with a kill. Both teams attacked efficiently in the opener, the Aztecs at .371 and the Bulldogs at .364, so the margin came from finishing the last exchanges.
Set two followed a similar shape but produced a sharper break. The score was tied 10 times before Fresno State moved ahead 17-15. SDSU took the next 10 of 11 points. Annelise Rising supplied three kills during that stretch, while the Bulldogs' offense fell to a negative .032 hitting percentage for the set.
By the third, the Aztecs no longer needed a late escape. They trailed 8-7, then won five consecutive rallies behind a Taelyn Bentley block, two Kendall Mairs aces and another Schabort kill. The lead reached 19-11. Fresno State never came closer than five, and SDSU closed its fourth sweep of the season.
Schabort led the attack with 12 kills. Tessa Schouten set a career high with 11 kills and recorded a season-best three solo blocks. Rising delivered nine kills in her first start, while Bentley added six kills and three blocks. Those four options kept the offense from depending on one rotation or one hitter.
Mairs distributed 33 assists and served three of SDSU's six aces. Libero Zara Stewart collected 16 digs. The Aztecs finished with 47 kills to Fresno State's 28, a 40-28 edge in digs and a .316 hitting percentage against the Bulldogs' .144. SDSU also led 6-4 in blocks, a reversal from the net disadvantage that shaped Thursday's conference-opening loss at Colorado State.
The timing of the production mattered as much as the totals. SDSU did not dominate every early exchange: it trailed in each of the first two sets and was one Fresno run from playing from behind. Instead, the Aztecs won 18 of the final 22 points across those two frames. That closing concentration removed the need for extended sets and left the Bulldogs with no reward for building either advantage.
The sweep improved SDSU to 6-6 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-12. Fresno State dropped to 5-8 and 0-2. It was the Aztecs' fifth straight win in the series and their fourth sweep during that run, according to the school recap and box score.
The more useful measure will come after the break. SDSU does not play again until Boise State visits Oct. 1, followed by Washington State on Oct. 3. Saturday showed a side capable of staying composed when a set turned against it and ruthless when the opening appeared. A .316 hitting night supplies a concrete standard for that return. Replicating the balance against the next conference opponents would matter more than the symmetry of one road sweep.