Oct. 30, 2017
MATCHES 24 & 25San José State at New MexicoJohnson Center, Albuquerque, N.M.Thursday, November 27:00 p.m. MT/6:00 p.m. PTMountain West NetworkSan José State at UNLVCox Pavilion, Las Vegas, Nev.Saturday, November 412:00 p.m. PTLive stats - www.sjsuspartans.comLive video - Links available at www.sjsuspartans.com/videos
SPARTANS START NOVEMBER ON THE ROAD: The San José State volleyball team goes back on the road this week with matches at New Mexico on Thursday and at UNLV on Saturday. The team went 1-1 last week, sweeping Fresno State, 3-0, before being swept by San Diego State.
San José State begins the week with an 15-8 overall record and 7-5 mark in the Mountain West after splitting last week with a win over Fresno State (3-0) before falling to San Diego State (3-0). The Spartans are tied for third with San Diego State in the Mountain West standings at 7-5, just behind Wyoming.
LIVE STATS: Live stat links for the matches are available on the San José State website at www.sjsuspartans.com.
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday's match will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network. Saturday's match at UNLV will not be streamed. Fans can access the video on the Spartan website at www.sjsuspartans.com/videos or on the "Stadium" app on iPhone under "Live Events."
ABOUT NEW MEXICO: The Lobos enter Thursday night's match with a 13-12 overall record and 5-7 MW mark, tying for sixth in the conference standings. The team has a two-match winning streak after defeating Boise State (3-1) and Utah State (3-0) last week. Head coach Jeff Nelson is in his 12th year at the school. For the third consecutive week, the Spartans face a team that has both the MW Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week. Setter Sarah Lobo had a 13.86 assist per set average in the two wins last week, while libero Ashley Kelsey averaged 6.14 digs in seven sets played. Lauren Twitty leads the team in kills with 337, 3.83 ps, while Victoria Spragg is the team's blocking leader with 94, 1.06 ps.
Series Record - New Mexico leads 14-5.
First Meeting - L, 2-0, September 26, 1981, San Jose, Calif.
Last Meeting - W, 3-2, October 7, 2017, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, October 7, 2017, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - W1
Last 10 meetings -2-8
ABOUT UNLV: The Rebels begin the week with an 8-17 overall record and 4-8 MW mark and host Nevada on Thursday night. The team finds themselves tied for ninth with Fresno State in the conference standings after losing last week at Boise State (3-0) and at Utah State (3-0). Head coach Cindy Fredrick is in her seventh season at the school and led the team to an NCAA Tournament berth last year. Mariena Hayden leads the team with 276 kills, 2.82 ps, while Ashley Owens has a team-best 120 blocks, 1.22 ps.
Series Record - UNLV leads 7-7.
First Meeting - W, 3-1, October 11, 1996, The Event Center
Last Meeting - L, 3-2, October 5, 2017, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, November 9, 2013, The Event Center
Current Streak - L7
Last 10 meetings - 2-8
HEAD COACH Jolene Shepardson: San José State head coach Jolene Shepardson is in her fourth season at the helm of the program. She has a 44-69 record in four seasons at SJSU, and a 87-116 coaching record in seven seasons.
NATIONAL RANKINGS (as of 10/30): Listed below are the Spartans among national leaders as a team and individually.
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set 52nd, 1.47 ps
Team Service Aces 63rd, 131
Winning Percentage 88th, .652
Kills Per Set 95th, 13.33 ps
Assists Per Set 97th, 12.39 ps
Hitting Percentage 97th, .225
Individual Rankings (Top 100)
Attacks Per Set Fernanda Vido, 67th 10.80 ps
Service Aces Luiza Andrade, 75th 32
Kills Per Set Giulia Gávio, 93rd 3.68 ps
Assists Per Set Breann Robinson, 94th 10.08 ps
Aces Per Set Luiza Andrade, 99th 0.36 ps
Total Assists Breann Robinson, 100th 847
WINNING SEASON/MOST MW WINS: With the 3-0 win over Fresno State on October 26, San José State is guaranteed a winning season for the first time since the 2006 season. That team finished the year 19-12 overall and had the last above .500 winning conference season at 9-7. The 15 wins for this year's team are also the most wins since the 2012 team won 14 matches. The last team to win 15 or more matches was the 2006 team.
With seven MW wins, this year's team has the most conference wins since the Spartans joined the MW in 2013. The wins are also the most conference wins since the 2012 team went 9-9 in the Western Athletic Conference.
HOME SWEET OCTOBER: After starting the Mountain West season with four straight road matches in September, San José State played six of its eight conference matches in the confines of Spartan Gym in October. The month started with home matches against UNLV (L, 3-2) and New Mexico (W, 3-2). After playing on the road at #21 Colorado State (L, 3-0) and Wyoming (L, 3-0), the Spartans returned home for four consecutive matches - Nevada (W, 3-0), Air Force (W, 3-1), Fresno State (W, 3-0) and San Diego State (L, 3-0).
BEST START SINCE 2001: The Spartans finished September with an 11-4 overall record, the most wins for the program through that month since the 2001 team finished September with an 11-2 record. That team was the last to receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the second round.
2,000 ASSISTS ACHIEVED: Setter Breann Robinson became the 12th Spartan to record 2,000 assists in her career earlier this season. Robinson did it in the fourth set of a 3-1 win at Fresno State on September 30. She has now moved into the top-10 list at San José State for career assists and begins the week with 2,307 assists, good for 10th on the list. Robinson needs 23 assists to move into ninth place with Susie Laymon.
ASSISTS (since 1984) TOTAL YEARS
1. Michelle Sarkees 5482 1996-99
2. Melizza Benitez 3257 1992-95
3. Savannah Smith 3040 1998-01
4. Caitlin Andrade 2759 2009-11
5. Teri DeBusk 2555 1984-85
6. Kristina Conrad 2548 2003-06
7. Michaela Leonard 2494 2012-13
8. Danielle Spier 2461 1984-87
9. Susie Laymon 2330 1986-89
10. Breann Robinson 2307 2014-17
1,000 MILESTONES REACHED: Two Spartans reached 1,000 career milestones on October 12 when the team played at Colorado State. In set two, Nandyala Gama became the 14th player at San José State to record 1,000 career kills. Just a few points later, Luiza Andrade became the eighth player at San José State to record 1,000 career digs.
ANDRADE DIGGIN' AND SERVIN' THE BALL: Spartan libero Luiza Andrade leads the team with 342 digs, 3.84 ps, and in service aces with 32, 0.36 per set. This season, she has recored 20+ digs in four matches - 25 at Drake, 24 versus Santa Clara, 23 against Kansas and 20 at San Diego State. Andrade recorded four service aces against UC Riverside and Howard.
She is also moving up the San José State career digs list. Andrade begins the week in sixth place with 1,057 digs. She needs 12 digs to move into fourth place with Hanah Blume.
VIDO MAKING IMPACT: Redshirt sophomore transfer Fernanda Vido returned to the Spartan lineup in the middle of October and made an immediate impact. She begins the week with 224 kills, 3.50 per set, and 146 digs, 2.28 ps. In the 17 matches played this season, Vido has recorded double-doubles in five of them. She had a season-best 24 kills in the win at San Francisco.
GAMA BLOCKING UP THE CAREER LISTS: Nandyala Gama continues to cement herself on the San José State career block assists and total blocks list. She is fifth in career block assists at 313 and needs 18 more to jump into fourth place. Gama moved into fifth place in total blocks with 360.
BLOCK ASSISTS TOTAL YEARS
1. Joslynn Gallop 391 1997-00
2. Melissa Myers 370 1995-98
3. Barbara Higgins 340 1984-87
4. Liz Hudson 337 2000-02
5. Nandyala Gama 319 2014-C
6. Cristin Rossman 291 1991-94
7. Stephanie Pascucci 287 1999-02
8. Colleen Burke 281 2005-08
9. Kim Hicks 279 1985-88
10. Alex Akana 261 2009-12
TOTAL BLOCKS TOTAL YEARS
1. Joslynn Gallop 456 1997-00
2. Barbara Higgins 447 1984-87
3. Melissa Myers 445 1995-98
4. Liz Hudson 365 2000-02
5. Nandyala Gama 360 2014-C
6. Cristin Rossman 357 1991-94
7. Kim Hicks 324 1985-88
8. Stephanie Pascucci 314 1999-02
9. Colleen Burke 308 2005-08
10. Alex Akana 286 2009-12
UP NEXT: San José State returns home for matches against Wyoming on Thursday, November 9, at 6 p.m., and #20 Colorado State on Saturday, November 11, at 2 p.m.