Oct. 20, 2016
San Jose, Calif.-- After falling behind 0-2, the San José State volleyball team rallied to win the next three sets and upset Mountain West leader Colorado State 3-2 (16-25, 14-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-11) Thursday night at Spartan Gym.
The Spartans won over Colorado State for the first time since the 1998 season (WAC Tournament, Quarterfinal match). San José State also ended the Rams 31-MW match winning streak dating back to November 1, 2014, and the 14-straight MW matches CSU had won on the road.
Giulia Gávio led all hitters with 18 kills and recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 11 digs. Summer Avery led the Spartans in hitting at .321 with 12 kills on 28 attempts and only three errors. Thelma Grétarsdottir added eight kills, two digs and two blocks.
Setter Breann Robinson recorded 44 assists, six digs and four blocks (1-3). Nandyala Gama led the Spartan blocking attack with six block assists and added seven kills. Defensively, Luiza Andrade led the team with 14 digs, and Jamie Hirai added 10 digs.
San José State lost the first two sets, 25-16 and 25-14, and hit .054 for those sets combined, while Colorado State was hitting .393 and had only six hitting errors.
The Rams even opened up a 13-6 lead in the third set, but the Spartans would not retreat. The team kept chipping away at the Ram lead before tying the set at 20-20. Colorado State had match point at 24-23 but a Grétarsdottir kill tied the set at 24-24. The Spartans took the lead for good on a Gávio kill and won the set on a Gávio service ace, 27-25.
The fourth set featured 10 lead changes and 16 tied scores. Neither team led by more than three points (23-20 by SJSU) during the set, and the Spartans scored the final two points on a Colorado State service error and an Avery kill, 25-22.
The final set was all Spartans from the first serve, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Colorado State got as close as 6-5 and 8-7, but SJSU kept grinding away to win 15-11 on Gama's seventh kill of the night.
San José State improves to 10-11 overall and 3-6 in the conference, while Colorado State is now 13-6 overall and 7-1 in the MW. SJSU returns to Spartan Gym on Saturday to host Wyoming in a 1 p.m. match.
MW Match
Spartan Gym
San José State def. Colorado State - 3-2 (16-25, 14-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-11).
Kills - CSU - Jasmine Hanna 15, Sanja Cizmic 13; SJSU - Giulia Gávio 18, Summer Avery 12.
Records - Colorado State 13-6, 7-1; San José State 10-11, 3-6.
# # #