Sept. 15, 2017
San José, Calif.- Giulia Gávio and Nandyala Gama led the Spartan team in hitting in two matches Friday, the San José State volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at the SCU/SJSU Tournament.
In the team's first match of the day, the Spartans fell to #9 Kansas 3-1 (25-10, 25-20, 18-25, 25-17) at Santa Clara. Gávio led the team with 14 kills and added 12 digs for her third double-double of the season. Gama added 10 kills for the match, while Fernanda Vido also reached double-digits with 10 kills. Luiza Andrade recorded her second 20+ dig match with 23 to lead all players.
After dropping the first two sets to the Jayhawks, the Spartans took control of the third set from the very first serve. Kansas got as close as 12-11, before SJSU used a 10-5 run to take control of the set and won 25-18 on a Jamie Hirai service ace.
San José State then traveled back home to face Idaho inside Spartan Gym. The Vandals gave the Spartans a battle before winning 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 27-25). Gávio and Gama each had 12 kills for the match. Gama hit .450 for the match, and Thaliana Grajeda led the team with four blocks.
The Spartans came out strong in the first set, taking an early 11-5 lead. But Idaho slowly chipped away at the lead, along with Spartan errors, to get themselves back into the match. Idaho tied the score at 22-22 on a Spartan hitting error and scored the next three points to win the first set 25-22.
Idaho won the second set 25-19, despite recording just four kills in the set, while the Spartans recorded just 13 kills on 40 attempts but had 11 hitting errors.
The two teams battled in the third set with six lead changes and nine tied scores. The Spartans fought off Idaho's first match point chance with a kill by Gama, and tied the set at 24-24 on a block by Grajeda and Ryann Thomison. The Spartans had set point after Gávio gave them the lead at 25-24, but Idaho scored the next three points to win 27-25.
San José State hosts Santa Clara Saturday evening at 7 p.m., inside Spartan Gym, located on the corner of 4th and San Carlos Streets. Admission is free.
SCU/SJSU Tournament
Idaho def. San José State 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 27-25).
Kills - ID - Kaela Straw 8.
SJSU - Giulia Gávio 12, Nandyala Gama 12.
Records - Idaho 5-5; San José State 7-3.
#9 Kansas def. San José State 3-1 (25-10, 25-20, 18-25, 25-17).
Kills - KAN - Kelsie Payne 17, Madison Rigdon 15.
SJSU - Giulia Gávio 14, Nandyala Gama 11, Fernanda Vido 10.
Records - Kansas 10-1; San José State 7-2.
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