Nov. 18, 2017
San Jose, Calif.-For four Spartan volleyball players, Saturday marked their final appearance in a San José State volleyball uniform inside Spartan Gym as the team took on Utah State in a Mountain West match.
San José State could not find one more comeback against the Aggies in the 3-1 loss Saturday (18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 28-26). Fernanda Vido led all hitters with 24 kills and added 11 digs.
The four seniors all saw action in the match. Summer Avery, who has been injured much of the season, saw action her only action of the season in the second set. Jamie Hirai had 12 digs, one assist and one service ace for SJSU.
Setter Breann Robinson had 53 assists in the match. She finished her career with 2,565 assists and now ranks fifth all-time in assists. Robinson also added five digs, two block assists and a service ace.
Nandyala Gama had her career-high in kills on Saturday with 23 on 53 attempts and hit .264 for the match. She ends her career with 1,114 kills and moved into 11th place on the San Jose State career kills list. Gama also finishes fifth on the SJSU career block assists list with 325 and fourth on the total blocks list with 366.
San José State started the match slowly, falling behind 8-2 in the first set. Ariana Newcomb came in to serve for the Spartans, serving five consecutive points to tie the set at 8-8. The Spartans took the lead for good on a Vido kill at 12-11 and increased the lead to win 25-18.
The Spartans took the lead early in the second set and led 15-11 before the media timeout. The Aggies then came out and scored five of the next six points to tie the set at 16-16. The two teams battled back and forth because Utah State scored the final four points of the set to win 25-21.
Utah State came out in the third set hitting .387 and won 25-21. The Spartans also hit .314 but never had a lead in the set.
The fourth set was as competitive as the final score of 28-26. The two teams combined for seven lead changes and 17 tied scores during the set. The Spartans took their final lead of the set at 24-23 on a Gama kill, but Utah State responded to tie the set. SJSU tied the score at 25-25 and had set point at 26-25, but the Aggies scored three consecutive points to win the set.
The Spartans finish the regular season with a 17-12 overall record and 9-9 in the MW, good for fifth in the standings and the best start in the MW since joining the conference in 2013.
Mountain West
Utah State def. San José State 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 28-26).
Kills - USU - Lauren Anderson 23; Kayla DeCoursey 10.
SJSU - Fernanda Vido 24; Nandyala Gama 23.
Records - Utah State 16-14, 8-10; San José State 17-12, 9-9.
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