Sept. 23, 2014
This Week:
Thurs., Sept. 25 New Mexico Spartan Gym 6:00 p.m. PDT
Sat., Sept. 27 Air Force Spartan Gym 1:00 p.m. PDT
SPARTANS OPEN MOUNTAIN WEST SCHEDULE THIS WEEK: The San José State volleyball team opens the 2014 Mountain West schedule this week with two matches. The Spartans host New Mexico on Thursday at 6 p.m., and Air Force on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be played at Spartan Gym, located on the corner of Fourth and San Carlos Streets.
MOUNTAIN WEST DIGITAL NETWORK: Both matches this week will be streamed live on the Mountain West Digital Network at www.SJSUSpartans.com/videos and www.TheMW.com.
LIVE AUDIO: KSJS, 90.5 FM, will broadcast both matches this week. Fans can listen on the web at www.ksjs.org.
LIVE STATS: Live stats for both matches are available on the San José State website at www.SJSUSpartans.com.
ABOUT NEW MEXICO: The Lobos enter Thursday night's match with a 7-5 overall record after winning two of three matches last week at the SMU Invitational. Head coach Jeff Nelson is in his eighth season at the school. Chantale Riddle leads the team with 144 kills, 3.60 per set, and in blocks with 64, 1.60 ps.
New Mexico leads the overall series, 8-3, and won both meetings last season, 3-1 in San José, and 3-0, in Albuquerque. The Spartans have not won a match in the series since a 3-1 win in Albuquerque in 1998.
ABOUT AIR FORCE: The Falcons begin the week with a 6-8 overall record before playing at Nevada Thursday night. The team defeated Abilene Christian, 3-0, but fell to Weber State and Texas Tech, 3-1 in each match, last weekend. Head coach Matt McShane is in his fifth season at the helm of the program. Akokwe Clement (sister of former Spartan Niki Clement) leads the team with 180 kills, 3.40 ps, while Maggie Sherrill is second with 160 kills, 3.02 ps.
San José State holds a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams split the meetings in 2013, the Spartans winning 3-1 at The Event Center, and the Falcons winning 3-0 at the Academy.
HEAD COACH Jolene Shepardson: Spartan head coach Jolene Shepardson is in her first season at the helm of the program. She came to San José State from Bakersfield where she turned a 0-31 team in 2010 to a 21-12 team in 2013.
SPARTANS GO 3-1 IN CHICAGO: San José State picked up its first wins of the season at the Chicago State Tournament last weekend. The team defeated South Dakota State in five sets, Chicago State in four sets and swept UMass Lowell.
HIBBS MAKES IMPACT IN WINDY CITY: Freshman Sara Hibbs helped lead the Spartans to a 3-1 record at the Chicago State Tournament on Sept. 19-20. She led the team in kills in three of the four matches played and was named to the all-tournament team.
For the weekend, Hibbs averaged 3.60 kills and 0.53 blocks per set. She had a season-best 21 kills in the five-set win over South Dakota State. She hit .324 for hte weekend including .393 against Chicago State (15-4-28).
PIEPER CLOSING IN ON TOP-10 IN DIGS: Kiely Pieper begins the week with 904 career digs. She is just 74 digs short of entering the top-10 all-time at San José State.
DIGS TOTAL YEARS
1. Jessie Shull 2260 2003-06
2. Dawnis Wilson 1412 1988-91
3. Kristal Tsukano 1350 2006-09
4. Hanah Blume 1069 2010-13
5. Joslynn Gallop 1052 1997-00
Christina Lukens 1052 1999-02
7. Barbara Higgins 1039 1984-87
8. Jeanine Haldi 982 1999-02
9. Darcy Walker 981 1996-99
10. Danielle Spier 978 1984-87
--- Kiely Pieper 904 2011-C
ROY LEADS THE HITTERS: Tyanna Roy leads the team with 146 kills, 3.11 per set. She has recorded double-digit kills in eight matches including 18 in a win at Chicago State.
DIGGIN' THE BALL: Yavianliz Rosado leads the Spartans in digs with 178, 3.79 per set. She recorded 26 digs in the win over South Dakota State and has had double-digit digs in nine matches. She is also second on the team with 10 service aces.
UP NEXT: The Spartans play just one match next week, a Mountain West contest at Fresno State on Saturday, October 4, beginning at 4 p.m. The match will be show on the Mountain West Digital Network.