San Jose, Calif.—Spartan Latahevai Lousi made her return to the court Thursday night with one of the best matches of her career as she hit .436 in San José State's 3-2 loss to Utah State in a Mountain West match at Spartan Gym.
Lousi, who has been out the last seven matches due to an injury, lead the Spartans in kills with a career-best 22. She took 39 attempts with only five errors and did not record a hitting error during the first two-plus sets. Lousi added five block assists and two digs for the match.
Two other Spartans recorded double-doubles in the match. Caitlin Bettenay had her second double-double of the year with 14 kills and 13 digs, while Fernanda Vido recorded her third double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. Bettenay led the team with three service aces.
Defensively, Luiza Andrade led the Spartans with 20 digs, and inches closer to third place on the San Jose State career digs list. She ends the night with 1,329 digs, just 21 behind Kristal Tsukano at 1,350. Andrade also had two aces and six assists for the match.
Thaliana Grajeda led the Spartans in blocking with a season-best seven blocks, one solo and six assists. She also had nine kills, three digs and an ace during the match.
The Spartans played outstanding the first two sets, winning 25-19 and 25-19. The team was hitting .338 after those sets and led set two from the very first serve.
In the final three sets, San José State hit just .096 with just 31 kills on 93 attempts and 22 errors.
Serving errors also plagued the Spartans at the wrong time, recording 16 in the match including five in the fourth set.
In the fifth set, the Spartans trailed 7-3, before outscoring the Aggies 5-1 to tie the deciding set at 8-8. SJSU took its final lead of the match at 9-8 on a Bettenay kill, before Utah State used a 7-3 run to close out the set and win the match.
San José State is now 5-7 overall and 0-3 in MW play. The team hosts Boise State this Saturday, September 29, beginning at noon inside Spartan Gym, located on the corner of Fourth and San Carlos Streets. Doors open at 11 a.m.
MW Match
Utah State def. San José State – 3-2 (19-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-12).
Kills – USU – Izzie Hinton Belnap 10, Gabbi Shumway 10. SJSU – Latahevai Lousi 22, Caitlin Bettenay 14, Fernanda Vido 13.
Records – Utah State 3-11, 1-2; San José State 5-7, 0-3.
# # #