MATCHES 20 & 221
San José State at Utah State (4-17, 2-8)
Kirby Court at Wayne Estes Center, Logan, Utah
Thursday, October 25
7:00 p.m. MT/6:00 p.m. PT
Mountain West Network
San José State at Boise State (13-8, 5-5)
Bronco Gym, Boise, Idaho
Saturday, October 27
2:00 p.m. MT/1:00 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 START SECOND HALF OF MW SCHEDULE ON THE ROAD: The San José State volleyball team begins the second half of the Mountain West schedule with matches at Utah State on Thursday and at Boise State this Saturday.
The Spartans enter the week with a 9-10 overall record and 4-6 MW record. The team had a three-match winning streak ended on Saturday with a 3-1 loss to MW leader Fresno State. The team currently sits in eighth place in the conference standings, one match ahead of Air Force and one match behind three teams in fifth place - Boise State, New Mexico and San Diego State.
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."
ABOUT UTAH STATE: The Aggies enter Thursday night's match with a 4-17 overall record and 2-8 MW record, good for 10th in the conference standings. The team defeated Air Force, 3-1, last Thursday. Head coach Grayson DuBose is in his 13th year at the school with a 186-198 coaching record.
Utah State Leaders
Hit % .321 Lauren O'Brien
Kills 217, 2.58 ps Bailey Downing
Assists 735, 8.65 ps Kassidy Johnson
Aces 22, 0.26 ps Tasia Taylor
Digs 354, 4.16 ps Tasia Taylor
Blocks 101, 1.20 ps Corinne Larsen
Series Record - Utah State leads the series 21-20-1
First Meeting -T, 1-1, November 3, 1979, Los Angeles, Calif.
Last Meeting - L, 3-2, September 27, 2018, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-0, November 5, 2015, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - L3
Last 10 meetings - 2-8
Record in Logan: 6-12, last win in Logan (3-1) was October 2, 2010, have lost six consecutive in Logan.
2018 meeting: The Spartans led 2-0 in earlier meeting this season, but Utah State rallied to win the match. Latahevai Lousi hit .436 in the match and led the team with 22 kills. However, 16 service errors did not help the Spartans, including five in the fourth set.
ABOUT BOISE STATE: The Broncos begin the week with a 13-8 overall record and a 5-5 MW mark, tying for fifth in the conference standings. The team hosts Nevada on Thursday before the Spartans visit on Saturday. Head coach Shawn Garus is in his 10th season at the school with 173-128 record and has a 288-248 coaching record in 18 years.
Boise State Leaders
Hit % .276 Jessica Donahue
Kills 306, 3.83 ps Sabryn Roberts
Assists 472, 8.00 ps Danielle Boss
Aces 37, 0.46 ps Morgan Hughes
Digs 256, 3.20 ps Jessie Brigham
Blocks 85, 1.06 ps Morgan Hughes
85, 1.35 ps Jessica Donahue
Series Record - Series is tied 17-17.
First Meeting -L, 3-1, September 20, 1997, Moraga, Calif.
Last Meeting - W, 3-0, September 29, 2018, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-0, September 29, 2018, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - W1
Last 10 meetings - 1-9
Record in Boise: 7-9, last win in Boise (3-0) was October 9, 2008, have lost seven consecutive in Boise.
2018 meeting: The Spartans swept the Broncos, 3-0, in Spartan Gym on September 29. Strong serving helped SJSU as the team recorded 12 service aces - led by Luiza Andrade with six. The win also broke a 14-match losing streak to Boise State.
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 55-85 record in five seasons at SJSU, and a 98-132 coaching record in eight seasons. She recorded her 50th win at San José State with a 3-2 win over Pacific on September 8.
SHEPARDSON NEARING 100 CAREER WINS: Spartan head coach Jolene Shepardson is just two wins away from capturing her 100th victory as a head coach. She is in her fifth season at San José State, and came to the school after coaching for three seasons at CSU Bakersfield.
NATIONAL RANKINGS (as of 10/22): Listed below are the Spartans among national leaders.
Individual Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set Luiza Andrade, 6th 0.52 ps
Service Aces Luiza Andrade, 18th 37
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set 27th 1.59 ps
Team Service Aces 99th 113
ANDRADE SERVING UP ACES: Luiza Andrade leads the team and is second in Mountain West in service aces with 37, 0.52 per set. She recorded a career-best six aces against Boise State on September 29. Andrade has 110 for her career and is creeping closer to the top-10 career ace list at San José State.
ANDRADE SECOND ALL-TIME IN DIGS AT SJSU: Senior libero Luiza Andrade is now in second place on the career digs list at San José State with 1,474 digs. 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 786 digs over the next eight matches to catch Jessie Shull who had 2,260 digs from 2003-06.
ANDRADE AMONG MW CAREER DIG LEADERS TOO: Luiza Andrade also ranks among the top-15 digs leaders in Mountain West history. She is currently 14th with her 1,474 digs, 41 digs behind 13th-place Jaime Colaizzi of Colorado State who had 1,515 digs from 2012-15. Jada Walker from UNLV holds the MW career record with 2,055 digs from 2004-07.
GRAJEDA LEADING HITTERS: Junior Thaliana Grajeda is hitting .332 to lead the Spartans this season and is ranked esixth in the Mountain West in hitting. She is also the team's leader in blocking with 53, 0.75 ps.
VIDO KILLIN' THE BALL: Fernanda Vido is the team's top kill collector with 1692 kills in 68 sets played. She is averaging 2.82 per set for the season and recorded double-digit kills in nine matches including a season-best 23 kills against North Florida
UP NEXT: San José State returns home next week for matches with New Mexico on November 1 at 6 p.m., and UNLV on Saturday November 3, at 2 p.m. Both matches will be played inside Spartan Gym, located on the corner of Fourth and San Carlos Streets.