MATCHES 7, 8, 9
FAU Owls Classic
San José State (4-2) vs. North Florida (3-8)
FAU Arena, Boca Raton, Fla.
Friday, September 14
10:00 a.m. ET/7:00 a.m. PT
San José State (4-2) at Florida Atlantic (6-3)
FAU Arena, Boca Raton, Fla.
Friday, September 14
7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT
Live video - http://conferenceusa.com/watch/default.aspx?Live=5192
San José State (4-2) vs. South Dakota State (2-8)
FAU Arena, Boca Raton, Fla.
Saturday, September 15
10:00 a.m. ET/7:00 a.m. PT
Live stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/florida_atlantic/wvball/
SPARTANS BACK TO FLORIDA FOR FINAL NON-CONFERENCE MATCHES: The San José State volleyball team travels to Boca Raton, Fla., for this weekend's FAU Owls Classic. The Spartans play North Florida and host Florida Atlantic on Friday and South Dakota State on Saturday.
The Spartans enter the tournament with a 4-2 record and a four-match winning streak. The team won the Hampton Inn & Suites Northern Colorado Classic last weekend, defeating host Northern Colorado (3-0), Alabama State (3-0) and Pacific (3-2). Fernanda Vido was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Caitlin Bettenay and Luiza Andrade were named to the all-tournament team.
LIVE STATS: Live stat links for the matches are available on the San José State website at www.sjsuspartans.com and at https://fausports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary.
LIVE VIDEO: Friday's match against Florida Atlantic will be broadcast at http://conferenceusa.com/watch/default.aspx?Live=5192. There is a fee to watch the stream.
ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA: The Osprey enters Friday's match with a 3-8 overall record. The team's three wins on the season came against Georgia Southern (3-1), USC Upstate (3-1) and North Dakota (3-2).
Series Record - First Meeting
First Meeting - September 14, 2018
Last Meeting - N/A
Last SJSU Win - N/A
Current Streak - First Meeting
Last 10 meetings - First Meeting
ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC: The Owls begin the weekend with a 6-3 record and a six-match winning streak. The team won the FAU Invitational and DePaul Tournament titles.
Series Record - San José State leads 1-0
First Meeting - W, 3-1, August 25, 2007, Albuquerque, N.M.
Last Meeting - W, 3-1, August 25, 2007, Albuquerque, N.M.
Last SJSU Win - W, 3-1, August 25, 2007, Albuquerque, N.M.
Current Streak - W1
Last 10 meetings -1-0
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: The Jackrabbits enter the tournament with a 2-8 record. The team's wins came against UMass Lowell (3-1) and Eastern Illinois (3-2).
Series Record - San José State leads 1-0
First Meeting -W, 3-2, September 19, 2014, Chicago, Ill.
Last Meeting - W, 3-2, September 19, 2014, Chicago, Ill.
Last SJSU Win - W, 3-2, September 19, 2014, Chicago, Ill.
Current Streak - W1
Last 10 meetings - 1-0
HEAD COACH JOLENE SHEPARDSON: San José State head coach Jolene Shepardson is in her fifth season at the helm of the program. She has a 50-73 record in five seasons at SJSU, and a 93-120 coaching record in eight seasons. Shepardson is seven wins away from 100 career coaching wins.
NATIONAL RANKINGS (as of 9/10): Listed below are the Spartans among national leaders as a team and individually.
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Opponent Hitting Percentage .172 76th
Winning Percentage .667 86th
Individual Rankings (Top 100)
Hitting Percentage Haylee Nelson, 4th .469
NELSON LEADING MW IN HITTING: Freshman Haylee Nelson has made an immediate impact on the Spartan team and the Mountain West with her hitting. She is currently the conference's top hitter at .469. Nationally, Nelson ranks 4th in hitting percentage. She hit a season-high .556 in a win over Jacksonville (12-2-18), .545 versus Alabama State (7-1-11) and .529 versus Pacific (10-1-17).
SUNSHINE STATE: The Spartans makes two trips to the state of Florida during the non-conference portion of the schedule. The team went to Tampa to start the season at the USF Invitational. The Spartans played South Florida (L, 3-1), Stony Brook (L, 3-0) and Jacksonville (W, 3-0).
San Jose State travels to Florida this week for the Owls Classic hosted by Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton. The team plays North Florida and Florida Atlantic on the 14th, followed by South Dakota State on the 15th.
TOURNAMENT TITLE: The Spartans won the Hampton Inn & Suites Northern Colorado Classic on September 7-8, after going 3-0 at the tournament. The team defeated host Northern Colorado (3-0), Alabama State (3-0) and Pacific (3-2).
COLORADO TRIPS: The Spartans make three trips to the state of Colorado for the 2018 season. Last weekend, the team won the the Hampton Inn & Suites Northern Colorado Classic in Greeley. San José State returns to the state for match against Colorado State in Fort Collins on September 22. The Spartans final match in the state of Colorado for the season will be on Thursday, October 11, when the Spartans play at the United State Air Force Academy.
ANDRADE HOLDING STEADY AT #4: Senior libero Luiza Andrade is holding onto the fourth spot on the San José State career digs list. She begins the week with 1,243 digs in her three-plus years in a Spartan uniform. Andrade needs 107 digs to catch Kristal Tsukano in third place at 1,350 digs, and 169 digs to get to Dawnis Wilson in second place at 1,412 digs. Andrade is the eighth player in school history to record 1,000 digs in her career.
MW PRESEASON POLL/PRESEASON TEAM: The Spartans are picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll after finishing the 2017 season with a 17-12 overall record and 9-9 MW mark. The team finished fifth in the standings, the best since joining the MW in 2013. Spartan libero Luiza Andrade who has been selected to the Mountain West Preseason Team, becoming the first Spartan to receive this honor in six years.
UP NEXT: San José State opens the 2018 Mountain West schedule next week with two matches. The Spartans host Wyoming on Thursday, September 20, at 6 p.m., and then travel to Colorado State on Saturday, September 22, at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT.