Sept. 11, 2013
San Jose--Hanah Blume recorded a career-best 22 kills and the Spartan middle blockers combined to hit .362 to lead the San José State volleyball team to a 3-2 home win over Eastern Washington Wednesday night.
Blume led all hitters with her 22 kills on 54 attempts and just eight hitting errors. Mary Alice O'Reilly hit a team-best .375 with 17 kills on 32 attempts and five errors. She also led the team with six blocks, two solo and four assists. Sarah Griest hit .346 with 13 kills on 26 attempts and just four errors. She added five blocks.
Michaela Leonard recorded a career-best 60 assists in the win and added five block assists and seven digs. Freshman Lauren Jacobsen made her home debut and recorded a team-high five service aces and added nine kills. Tyanna Roy also made her home debut with six kills, two aces, eight digs and two block assists.
Defensively, two Spartans recorded double-digit kills. Kiely Pieper led all players with 21 digs, while Cori O'Donoghue added 16 digs.
In the team's first match in The Event Center since November of 2004, the Spartans did not disappoint the fans. The team jumped took the first set 25-21, held close for the second set at 26-24 and won the third set 25-21. The Eagles hit .355 in the fourth set to win 25-16 and force a deciding fifth set.
In the fifth set, the two teams battled as there were seven ties and two lead changes. The Spartans battled back from two Eastern Washington match points to tie the set at 14-14 as O'Reilly and Leonard blocked an Eagle hitter. The Spartans took the lead for good on Blume's 22nd kill of the night and won on a Griest kill.
San José State now travels to Stockton this weekend for the Bankers Classic. The team faces Winthrop on Friday at 5 p.m., followed by UC Riverside and Pacific on Saturday.
Non-Conference match
San José State def. Eastern Washington - 3-2 (25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 16-25, 17-15).
Kills - EWU - Allie Schumacher 14; Kylie Curtis 10.
SJSU - Hanah Blume 22; Mary Alice O'Reilly 17; Sarah Griest 13.
Records - Eastern Washington 3-5; San Jose State 2-5.
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