Sept. 8, 2016
Flo Hyman Collegiate CupSeptember 9-10Hosted by University of HoustonHouston, TexasScheduleFriday, September 910:00 a.m. CT - Louisiana Monroe vs. Houston Baptist1:00 p.m. CT/11:00 a.m. PT - Houston vs. San José State4:00 p.m. CT/2:00 p.m. PT - Louisiana Monroe vs. San José State7:00 p.m. CT - Houston vs. Houston BaptistSaturday, September 1012:30 p.m. CT/10:30 a.m. PT - San José State vs. Houston Baptist3:00 p.m. CT - Houston vs. Louisiana Monroe
Live stats - www.sjsuspartans.com & www.houstoncougars.com
Live video - Houston match only on Sept. 9 link available on San José State schedule page on www.sjsuspartans.com
VOLLEYBALL TRAVELS TO TEXAS: The San José State volleyball team heads south to the state of Texas to play at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Classic hosted by the University of Houston. The Spartans take a 4-2 record to Houston after going 1-2 last weekend at the Wolverine Classic hosted by Utah Valley.
LIVE STATS: Live stat links for the matches are available on the San José State website at www.SJSUSpartans.com.
LIVE VIDEO: Live video, for a fee, is only available for Friday's match against Houston. A link can be found on the Spartan volleyball schedule page on www.sjsuspartans.com.
ABOUT HOUSTON: The Cougars have a 4-2 overall record heading into Friday afternoon's match. Head coach Kaddie Platt is in her fifth year at the school and 22 years as a head coach. Megan Duncan and Brianna Lynch each have 66 kills to lead the team (2.75 ps).
San José State won the only meeting between the two teams, 3-0, at the 1998 Danka Invitational hosted by the University of Nevada.
ABOUT LOUISIANA MONROE: The Warhawks enter the tournament with a 3-6 record after falling at Stephen F. Austin, 3-1, Tuesday evening. Head coach Patrick Hiltz is in his third year at the helm of the program. Hope Pawlik leads the team with 66 kills, 2.75 ps, while Kaitlyn Shearer is the top blocker at 37, 1.37ps.
This is the first meeting between the two teams.
ABOUT HOUSTON BAPTIST: Houston Baptist begins the tournament with a 5-4 overall record after defeating Prairie View A&M, 3-0, Tuesday evening. Head coach Trent Herman is in his fifth year at the helm of the program. Bailey Banks leads the team with 110 kills, 3.44 per set, while Blair Gillard is the top blocker with 44, 1.42 per set.
This is the first meeting between the two teams.
HEAD COACH Jolene Shepardson: San José State head coach Jolene Shepardson is in her third season at the helm of the program. She has a 21-45 record in three seasons at SJSU, and a 64-92 coaching record in six seasons.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Three Spartans rank in the top-50 in five categories through September 6.
Thaliana Grajeda - 22nd blocks per set - 1.50 ps
Thaliana Grajeda - 27th in total blocks - 33
Giulia Gávio - 27th kills per set - 4.97 ps
Giulia Gávio -35th points per set - 4.26 ps
Luiza Andrade - 30th in digs - 5.14 ps
GÃVIO KILLS MOVE HER INTO SJSU HISTORY: Giulia Gávio recorded a career-best 32 kills against Southern Utah on September 2, and moved herself into the Spartan record books. She is just one of five Spartan players to record 32 kills in a match. The 32 kills are the third-highest total number of kills in match in San José State history.
Top Kill Performances in San José State History
38 Paola Paz-Soldan, at BYU, 9/10/94
33 Paola Paz-Soldan, vs. Pacific, 10/17/95
Dawnis Wilson, at New Mexico, 10/5/90
32 Giulia Gávio, vs. Southern Utah, 9/2/16
Joslynn Gallop, vs. Boise State, 9/8/00
Dawnis Wilson, at Santa Clara, 10/15/91
Betsy Welsh, vs. UC Irvine, 10/14/90
Linda Fournet, vs. Oregon State, 11/11/83
KEEP THE BLOCKS COMING: Freshman Thaliana Grajeda is making her mark on the San Jose State blocking lists after her performance against Southern Utah. She recorded 11 blocks assists in the match to become the ninth player in school history to accomplish the feat.
Spartans With 11 Blocks In a Match
11 Thaliana Grajeda (11a), vs. Southern Utah, 9/2/16
Niki Clement (3s,8a), vs. Fresno State, 11/10/05
Joslynn Gallop (5s6a) vs. UTEP, 11/10/00
Cristin Rossman (2s9a), vs. American, 12/2/94
Cristin Rossman (4s7a), vs. Colorado State, 9/12/92
Heather McPherson (2s9a), vs. Long Beach St., 10/12/90
Leslie Page (4s7a), vs. New Mexico St., 9/30/91
Kim Hicks (1s10a), vs. San Diego St., 9/19/87
Christa Cook (11a), vs. Pacific, 10/2/84
Mandy McMahon (9s2a), vs. Utah St., 9/12/83
ANDRADE JOINS THE 30-DIG CLUB: Luiza Andrade joined the 30-dig club on September 3, when she recored 30 digs in a match at Utah Valley. She is the 13th Spartan in school history to record 30 or more digs in a match.
30 Luiza Andrade, vs. Utah Valley, 9/3/16
Yavianliz Rosado, vs. Wyoming, 10/15/15
Kristal Tsukano, vs. Idaho, 10/27/07
Jessie Shull, vs. Portland, 9/10/05
Jessie Shull, vs. Washington State, 9/4/04
GAVIO PUTS UP BIG NUMBERS AT WOLVERINE INVITATIONAL: Giulia Gávio was one of the team's top contributors at the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 2-3). She averaged 5.38 kills, 3.62 digs and 0.62 aces per set. Gávio recorded a double-double in all three matches including a career-best 32 kills against Southern Utah. She had five service aces against North Texas and led the team in kills in all three matches.
BEST START TO SEASON SINCE 2006: The Spartans began 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. This year's team won the Spartan Invitational (Aug. 26-27) with wins over Providence, UMass Lowell and Manhattan.
THELMA BREAKING THE ICE: Freshman outside hitter Thelma Grétarsdottir made an immediate impact on the Spartan team in her first three matches. At the Spartan Invitational, she led the team in kills twice and was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
BLOCKING FRESHMAN MAKING MARK: Six matches into her freshman season, Thaliana Grajeda is making an immediate impact at the net defensively for the Spartans. She leads the Mountain West in total blocks with 33, and ranks 27th in the country in total blocks. Grajeda has a 1.50 blocks per set average to rank 22nd nationally. She is one of two players tied for the single-match blocking performance in the Mountain West with 11 block assists against Southern Utah.
ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS: Four Spartan players have received all-tournament recognition over the past two weeks. At the Spartan Invitational, Thelma Grétarsdottir was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, while Summer Avery and Luiza Andrade received all-tournament honors. Giulia Gávio was selected to the Wolverine Invitational All-Tournament team after recording a double-double in all three matches played and averaging 5.38 kills and 3.62 digs ps.
UP NEXT: The Spartans finish the non-conference portion of the schedule in Southern California at the USD/SDSU Tournament. The team plays Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara.