MATCHES 18 & 19
San Diego State (6-15, 4-4) at San José State
Spartan Gym
Thursday, October 18
6:00 p.m. PT
Mountain West Network
Fresno State (14-6, 6-1) at San José State
Spartan Gym
Saturday, October 20
2:00 p.m. PT
Mountain West Network
Live stats - https://sjsuspartans.com/schedule.aspx?path=wvball
Live video - Links available at www.sjsuspartans.com/watch
SPARTANS HOST CONFERENCE LEADER THIS WEEKEND: The San José State volleyball team returns to Spartan Gym this week for a two key Mountain West matches against San Diego State on Thursday and Fresno State on Saturday. The Aztecs sit in six place in the MW standings. The Bulldogs, under first-year head coach Jonathan Widner, are atop the conference standings with a 5-1 record.
SJSU enters the week with an 8-9 overall record and 3-5 MW record. The teamhas a two-match winning streak after victories over Nevada (3-1) and Air Force (3-2) last week. SJSU is in 9th place in the MW standings at 3-5, two matches ahead of Nevada and Utah State.
DIG PINK/BREAST CANCER AWARENESS: The Spartans will host their annual "Dig Pink" match Thursday night as part of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Fans are encourage to wear pink match to the match.
LIVE STATS: Live stat links for all matches are available on the San José State website at https://sjsuspartans.com/schedule.aspx?path=wvball.
LIVE VIDEO: Both matches will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network this week. Fans can access the stream on the Spartan website at www.sjsuspartans.com/watch or on the "Stadium" app on iPhone under "Live Events."
TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets to all San José State volleyball matches are available the day of the match. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children 12 and younger. For more information, please call the Spartan Athletics Ticket Office at (408) 924-SJTX (7589).
ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs enter Thursday night's match with a 6-15 overall record and 4-4 mark in the MW, currently sixth in the conference standings. Head coach Deitre Collins-Parker is in her 10th season at the school with a 152-142 record and has a 314-333 coaching record in 23 seasons.
San Diego State Leaders
Hit % .333 Deja Harris
Kills 262, 3.05 ps Deja Harris
Assists 600, 8.57 ps Delaney Taylor
Aces 42, 0.54 ps Ashlynn Dunbar
Digs 207, 2.59 ps Sam McGrath
Blocks 117, 1.36 ps Deja Harris
Series Record - San Diego State leads 21-10.
First Meeting - L, 2-1, October 22, 1977, Malibu, Calif.
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, October 28, 2017, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, September 28, 2017, Peterson Gym
Current Streak - L1
Last 10 meetings - 3-7
ABOUT FRESNO STATE: The Bulldogs begin the week with a 14-6 overall record and 6-1 MW mark and sit atop the conference standings. The team's only loss was at Boise State (3-1) on October 6. Head coach Jonathan Winder is in his first season at the school.
Fresno State Leaders
Hit % .345 Haile Watson
Kills 278, 3.56 ps Taylor Slover
Assists 745, 9.55 ps Madelyn Halteman
Aces 23, 0.29 ps Madelyn Halteman
Digs 383, 4.91 ps Reagan Leonard
Blocks 88, 0.95 ps Haile Watson
Series Record - San José State leads 50-31.
First Meeting - W, 2-0, 1977
Last Meeting - W, 3-0, October 26, 2017, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-0, October 26, 2017, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - W2
Last 10 meetings - 5-5
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 54-84 record in five seasons at SJSU, and a 97-131 coaching record in eight seasons. Shepardson is three wins away from 100 career coaching wins and recorded her 50th win at San José State with a 3-2 win over Pacific on September 8.
NATIONAL RANKINGS (as of 10/15): Listed below are the Spartans among national leaders.
Individual Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set Luiza Andrade, 6th 0.55 ps
Service Aces Luiza Andrade, 19th 34
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set 2nd 1.66 ps
Team Service Aces 99th 103
ANDRADE SERVING UP ACES: Luiza Andrade leads the team and is second in Mountain West in service aces with 34, 0.55 per set. She recorded a career-best six aces against Boise State on September 29. Andrade has 107 for her career and is creeping closer to the top-10 career ace list at San José State.
GÁVIO SEES ACTION IN 2018: Senior Giulia Gávio returned to the court for the first time since a knee injury ended her 2017 season. Gávio played at New Mexico on October 6, and recorded seven kills and five digs in the match.
LOUSI RETURNS TO ACTION WITH BIG NIGHT: After missing seven matches due to an injury, Latahevai Lousi returned to the court against Utah State and made an immediate impact on the Spartan team. She led the team 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.
ANDRADE MOVES INTO THIRD, EYEING SECOND: Senior libero Luiza Andrade is now in second place on the career digs list at San José State. She moved into second place with 17 digs in a win at Air Force on October 11, passing Dawnis Wilson at 1,412 digs. Andrade would need 832 digs over the next 10 matches to catch Jessie Shull who had 2,260 digs from 2003-06. Andrade is the eighth player in school history to record 1,000 digs in her career.
SPARTANS PICK UP TWO MW WINS LAST WEEK: The team earned two wins last week, defeating Nevada, 3-1, at home on the 9th before traveling to Air Force for a 3-2 win on the 11th.
UP NEXT: San José State heads to the Mountain time zone for two matches. The team plays at Utah State on Thursday, October 25, at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT, and at Boise State on Saturday, October 27, at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT.