Aug. 30, 2016
VOLLEYBALL TAKES PERFECT RECORD ON ROAD: The San José State volleyball team makes the first road trip of the season as they travel to Orem, Utah, for the Wolverine Invitational hosted by Utah Valley. The Spartans face Southern Utah, North Texas and Utah Valley on Friday and Saturday.
LIVE STATS: Live stat links for the matches are available on the San José State website at www.SJSUSpartans.com.
LIVE VIDEO: Live video is only available this weekend for Saturday's matches. Links can be found on the Spartan volleyball schedule page on www.sjsuspartans.com.
BEST START TO SEASON SINCE 2006: The Spartans begin the season 3-0 for the first time since 2006 when the team won the Hilton Garden Inn/NAU Invitational with wins over Fordham, Central Arkansas and Northern Arizona. In a twist of fate, the Spartans next match is against Southern Utah who is coached by former San José State head coach Craig Choate. Choate was the head coach of the 2006 team that finished 19-12.
66 PERFECT TEAMS NATIONALLY: After the first weekend of volleyball action, the Spartans are one of 66 teams nationally with an undefeated record. Four teams are from the Mountain West - #25 Colorado State (2-0), Fresno State (4-0), UNLV (3-0) and San José State (3-0).
THELMA BREAKING THE ICE: Freshman outside hitter Thelma Grétarsdottir made an immediate impact on the Spartan team in her first matches. She led the Spartans in kills twice over th weekend and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Spartan Invitational. She leads the team in kills with 31, 3.44 ps, and is second in blocks with 10, 1.11 ps.
BLOCKING FRESHMAN MAKING MARK: In just her first three matches in a Spartan uniform, freshman middle blocker Thaliana Grajeda is making her statement on the team with her blocking ability. She leads the Mountain West in total blocks with 16, and ranks 33rd in the country in total blocks. Grajeda has a 1.78 blocks per set average to rank 16th nationally. She has the top single-match blocking performance in the Mountain West with nine block assists against Manhattan.
HELLO OLD FRIEND: The Spartans face former head coach Craig Choate Friday afternoon when the team faces Southern Utah. Choate is in his second season at the helm of the Thunderbird program. He was the Spartan head coach from 1993-2006 and holds the record for most career coaching wins at San José State with 244 and took three Spartan teams to the NCAA Tournament. This is the second time a Choate-led team has faced San José State - the first at the 2011 Fiesta Bowl Tournament where Northern Arizona defeated SJSU 3-0 (Sept. 2.)
ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS: Three Spartan players were named to the Spartan Invitational All-Tournament team. Thelma Grétarsdottir was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, while Summer Avery and Luiza Andrade received all-tournament honors.
UP NEXT: The Spartans travel to Houston for three matches at the Houston Invitational. The team plays Houston and Louisiana Monroe on September 9, and Houston Baptist on the 10th.