Nov. 1, 2016
VOLLEYBALL HOSTS FIFTH-PLACE TEAMS IN MOUNTAIN WEST: The San José State volleyball team hosts San Diego State and Nevada this week in Mountain West matches at Spartan Gym. Both opponents currently have a 6-5 conference record and are tied for fifth place in the standings. The Spartans are currently tied for ninth in the Mountain West standings with Fresno State at 3-9. The team went 0-2 last week, falling at UNLV and New Mexico by the same score, 3-0.
LIVE STATS: Live stat links for the matches are available on the San José State website at www.SJSUSpartans.com.
MOUNTAIN WEST DIGITAL NETWORK: This Thursday's match will be streamed live on the Mountain West Digital Network at www.SJSUSpartans.com/videos and http://campusinsiders.com/network/mw/live. Saturday's match against Nevada will have only live stats.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs begin the week with a 14-11 overall record and 6-5 MW record and are tied for fifth with Nevada in the conference standings. San Diego State split a pair of road matches last week, winning at Air Force last Thursday, 3-1, but falling at Boise State, 3-1, this past Saturday. Alexandra Psoma leads the team in kills with 302, 3.25 ps, while Deja Harris is hitting a team-best .368 with 256 kills.
Series Record - San Diego State leads 20-8.
First Meeting - L, 2-1, October 22, 1977, Malibu, Calif.
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, October 8, 2016, San Diego, Calif.
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, November 7, 2013, The Event Center
Current Streak - L4
Last 10 meetings - 3-7
ABOUT NEVADA: The Wolf Pack begin the week with a 15-8 overall record an 6-5 MW record. The team plays at Fresno State Thursday night before traveling to San Jose. The team split a pair of road matches last week, losing to Boise State, 3-1, but defeating Air Force, 3-0. Madison Morell leads the team in kills with 366, 4.16 per set, while Madison Foley has a team-best 33 service aces.
Series Record - San José State leads 27-20.
First Meeting -W, 2-0, October 7, 1978, Berkeley, Calif.
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, October 6, 2016, Virginia Street Gym, Reno, Nev.
Last SJSU Win - 3-0, November 2, 2016, Reno, Nev.
Current Streak - L4
Last 10 meetings - 4-6
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 27-57 record in three seasons at SJSU, and a 70-104 coaching record in six seasons.
GAMA JOINS ELITE SPARTAN BLOCKING COMPANY: With 116 block assists on the season, Nandyala Gama moved onto the San José State single season block assists list. She is tied for 10th with former Spartan greats Joslynn Gallop (1998) and Stephanie Pascucci (2002).
Gama is the first player to enter the top-10 in block assists since the 2002 season when Pasccuci and Liz Hudson each entered the list. Gama needs only two more block assists to tie Barbara Higgins for ninth, four for eighth with Tanya Kamau and five for seventh with Melissa Myers. The school record is 134, set by Hudson during the 2001 season.
BLOCK ASSISTS TOTAL YEAR
1. Liz Hudson 134 2001
2. Kim Hicks 128 1988
3. Liz Hudson 119 2002
4. Cristin Rossman 117 1994
5. Cristin Rossman 115 1992
6. Joslynn Gallop 112 2000
7. Melissa Myers 111 1998
8. Tanya Kamau 110 1998
9. Barbara Higgins 108 1986
10. Nandyala Gama 106 2016
Stephanie Pascucci 106 2002
Joslynn Gallop 106 1998
UP NEXT: The Spartans go on the road for the next two weeks. The team plays at Air Force on Thursday, November 10, at Boise State on Saturday, November 12, and at Utah State on Saturday, November 19. San José State's final match of the 2016 season will be on Tuesday, November 22, against Fresno State at 6 p.m.