It’s not often a team gets swept and still considers it a step forward.
For the San Diego State volleyball team, though, that’s exactly what happened.
SDSU lost to TCU Saturday in straight sets but showed signs of improvement and consistency.
Tomorrow, the Aztecs (4-9) will be looking to continue that trend by taking on Mountain West Conference rivals UNLV (9-7) at 7 p.m. in Las Vegas.
This will be the first matchup against these two teams this year and SDSU expects to make more progress.
“I’m expecting a good match against UNLV,” head coach Mark Warner said. “I expect us to be pretty competitive against them and to put ourselves in a position to win. We want to be able to take another step forward instead of a step back.”
The Aztecs will be facing a team that is a far cry from what the Rebels have built a reputation on in the past.
“UNLV has a different style team than they’ve had in the past,” Warner said. “We’re used to playing against them in prior years, but this year they’re not quite as powerful of a team as they’ve used to be.”
Still, UNLV exceeds at execution and fundamentals; something SDSU has struggled mightily with this season.
“They’re a very scrappy team,” Warner said. “They make a lot of shots and they don’t make a lot of mistakes. They really don’t hurt themselves, which has been a problem for us.”
While the Aztecs are not making any significant changes to practice this week, it is not lacking a game plan to combat UNLV’s unique style.
“We’re hoping we can overpower them,” Warner said. “We definitely have the potential and ability to (overpower them), but we can’t afford to make mistakes and put ourselves in a hole.”
The Rebels do seem to have an advantage over SDSU. Along with their superior record, UNLV can use its distinctive game play against an inexperienced Aztec team.
“We tend to match up better against what I call ‘smash-mouth’ teams,” Warner said. “But, we need to learn to play against a team like this. We should be able to do it and we have the potential to do it.”
The key for SDSU is, as it has been this entire season, to reach their potential.
“(Our team) is a really resilient and determined group,” Warner said. “Our success really depends on our getting the team to perform consistency. They certainly want to play the way they are capable of. We just need to get it done.”
At A GlanceWhere: Las VegasWhen:7 p.m., tomorrowWhy: The Aztecs will try to continue to improve against a scrappy UNLV team.