The Crimson couldn’t complete the sweep though as SMU rallied to take the next two sets. In the third frame, the two teams rallied back and forth for much of the set, with no lead larger than three points, until two errors by Harvard and a kill by Mustangs senior Maddie Lozano gave SMU the winning edge, 25-22. Another win by SMU in the fourth, 25-18, pushed the match to five.

SAN DIEGO STATE 3, HARVARD 1

SDSU handed the Crimson its first loss of the season in four sets, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-15.

Casey and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Shults provided intensity on the attack for the Crimson, with six kills each, but errors abounded as Harvard finished with a .098 hitting percentage.

The match was the third straight in which Harvard dropped the opening set. This time, the Crimson came back to take the second with key kills from Shults and Casey late in the stanza.

“We’ve been practicing running a really diverse and quick offensive system and it’s been definitely one of the things we worked on really hard over preseason,” Shults said.

SDSU came out fiercely on offense, with a hitting percentage of .347, including third and fourth sets above .400.

Aztecs junior Michelle Weber drilled a game-high 18 kills, while teammates Summer Nash and Emily Harris hit 15 and 14, respectively.

—Staff writer Cordelia F. Mendez can be reached at cordelia.mendez@thecrimson.com.