Nov. 7, 2017
MATCHES 26 & 27Wyoming at San José StateSpartan Gym, San Jose, Calif.Thursday, November 96:00 p.m. PTMountain West Network#19 Colorado State at San José StateSpartan Gym, San Jose, Calif.Saturday, November 112:00 p.m. PTMountain West NetworkLive stats - www.sjsuspartans.comLive video - Links available at www.sjsuspartans.com/videos
SPARTANS HOST CONFERENCE LEADERS THIS WEEK: The San José State volleyball team returns to Spartan Gym this week to face the Mountain West's top-two teams in the standings. Wyoming visits first on Thursday, followed by #19 Colorado State on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans have just four matches left in 2017 - two at home this week, one at Boise State next week and home with Utah State on November 18.
San José State begins the week with a 16-9 overall record and 8-6 mark in the Mountain West after splitting last week with a loss at New Mexico (3-0) but rebounded for a win at UNLV (3-1), stopping the seven-match losing streak to the Rebels.. The Spartans are tied for third with San Diego State in the Mountain West standings at 8-6, 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: Both matches this week will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network. Jess Knaster provides the play-by-play. 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 WYOMING: The Cowgirls enter Thursday night's match with a 14-12 overall record and 9-5 Mountain West record. The team is currently in second place in the conference standings, one match ahead of the Spartans and Aztecs, and split matches at home last week, defeating Boise State (3-1) but falling to Utah State (3-1). Head coach Chad Callihan is in his fifth season at Wyoming. Tara Traphagan leads the team with 276 kills, 2.82 per set, while Reed Copeland is the team leader in blocks with 11, 1.28 ps.
Series Record - Wyoming leads 9-4.
First Meeting - W, 3-0, October 1, 1983, Berkeley, Calif.
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, October 14, 2017, UniWyo Sports Complex, Laramie, Wyo.
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, October 1, 2015, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - L4
Last 10 meetings -2-8
ABOUT #19 COLORADO STATE: The Rams have clinched the 2017 Mountain West Championship with a 14-0 conference record. The team begins the week ranked 19th in the AVCA Poll and have a 24-2 overall record. The team plays at Nevada on Thursday before traveling to San Jose. Head coach Tom Hilbert is in his 21st season at the school. Breana Runnels leads the team with 287 kills, 3.19 per set. Kirstie Hillyer leads the MW in blocks at 1.48 ps (95), while Paulina Hougaard-Jensen is the conference leader in hitting at .466 and has a team-best 116 blocks on the year, 1.32 ps.
Series Record - Colorado State leads 13-5.
First Meeting -W, 3-1, September 20, 1984, Spartan Gym
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, October 12, 2017, Moby Arena, Fort Collins, Colo.
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, October 20, 2016, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - L1
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 45-70 record in four seasons at SJSU, and a 88-117 coaching record in seven seasons.
NATIONAL RANKINGS (as of 11/6): Listed below are the Spartans among national leaders as a team and individually.
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set 43rd, 1.50 ps
Team Service Aces 51st, 144
Kills Per Set 87th, 13.42 ps
Assists Per Set 88th, 12.48 ps
Winning Percentage 92nd, .640
Hitting Percentage 96th, .225
Team Assists 97th, 1,198
Team Kills 98th, 1,288
Individual Rankings (Top 100)
Attacks Per Set Fernanda Vido, 50th 11.15 ps
Service Aces Luiza Andrade, 79th 34
Kills Per Set Fernanda Vido, 83rd 3.73 ps
Assists Per Set Breann Robinson, 84th 10.22 ps
Kills Per Set Giulia Gávio, 94th 3.68 ps
Total Assists Breann Robinson, 95th 930
Aces Per Set Luiza Andrade, 97th 0.35 ps
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 16 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 eight 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 ninth all-time on the San José State career assists lists. She begins the week with 2,390 assists, passing Susie Laymon last week. Robinson needs just 71 assists to move into eighth, 104 for seventh place and 158 for sixth place.
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. Breann Robinson 2390 2014-17
10. Susie Laymon 2330 1986-89
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 370 digs, 3.85 ps, and in service aces with 34, 0.35 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 fourth place with 1,085 digs. She needs 265 digs to move into third place with Kristal Tsukano.
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 265 kills, 3.73 per set, and 164 digs, 2.31 ps. In the 19 matches played this season, Vido has recorded double-doubles in six of them. She had a season-best 26 kills in the win at UNLV.
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.
UP NEXT: San José State plays the final regular season matches next week - at Boise State on November 15 at 7:30 p.m. MT and hosts Utah State on November 18th at 2 p.m.