MATCHES 14 & 15
San José State at UNLV (11-5, 2-2)
Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas, Nev.
Thursday, October 4
6:00 p.m. PT
Mountain West Network
San José State at New Mexico (9-7, 3-1)
Johnson Center, Albuquerque, N.M.
Saturday, October 6
1:00 p.m. MT/12:00 p.m. PT
Mountain West Network
Live stats - www.sjsuspartans.com
Live video - Links available at www.sjsuspartans.com/watch
SPARTANS PLAY TWO ON THE ROAD THIS WEEK: The San José State volleyball team goes on the road for two Mountain West matches this week. The team plays at UNLV Thursday night and at New Mexico Saturday afternoon. The Spartans will play three of their next four matches on the road - two this week, home on Tuesday with Nevada and at Air Force next Thursday.
The Spartans enter the week with a 6-7 overall record and 1-3 MW record. The team lost at home to Utah State, 3-2, last Thursday before rebounding on Saturday to defeat Boise State, 3-0, to end a 14-match losing streak to the Broncos. SJSU is tied for 8th place in the MW standings at 1-3 along with Nevada, Utah State and San Diego State.
LIVE STATS: Live stat links for all matches are available on the San José State website at www.sjsuspartans.com.
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 UNLV: The Rebels enter Thursday night's match with an 11-5 overall record and 2-2 MW mark. The team is tied for fifth in the conference standings with Boise State and Wyoming. UNLV lost 3-1 last week to New Mexico and Air Force. Head coach Dawn Sullivan is in her first year at the school.
UNLV Leaders
Hit % .370 Kate Brennan
Kills 284, 4.73 ps Mariena Hayden
Assists 474, 7.90 ps Antonette Rolda
Aces 57, 0.95 ps Mariena Hayden
Digs 201, 3.35 ps Mariena Hayden
Blocks 61, 1.02 ps Elsa Descamps
Series Record - UNLV leads 8-7.
First Meeting - W, 3-1, October 11, 1996, The Event Center
Last Meeting - W, 3-1, November 4, 2017, Cox Pavilion
Last SJSU Win - 3-1, November 4, 2017, Cox Pavilion
Current Streak - W1
Last 10 meetings - 2-8
Record in Las Vegas vs. UNLV: 6-3, last year's win ended a three-match losing streak.
ABOUT NEW MEXICO: The Lobos begin the week with a 9-7 overall record and 3-1 MW record and host Nevada on Thursday before the Spartans come to town. The team is tied for second in the MW standings with Colorado State. New Mexico won a pair of MW matches last week, defeating UNLV (3-1) and Air Force (3-2). Head coach Jeff Nelson is in his 12th season at the school with 212-140 record and in his 24th season as a head coach with a 454-286 coaching record.
New Mexico Leaders
Hit % .313 Victoria Spragg
Kills 221, 3.45 ps Lauren Twitty
Assists 362, 5.57 ps Sabrina Bianco
Aces 13, 0.20 ps Lauren Twitty, Sabrina Bianco
Digs 159, 2.48 ps Lauren Twitty
Blocks 59, 0.91 ps Mariessa Carrasco
Series Record - New Mexico leads 15-5.
First Meeting - L, 2-0, September 26, 1981, San Jose, Calif.
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, November 2, 2017, Johnson Center
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, October 7, 2017, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - L1
Last 10 meetings -2-8
Record in Albuquerque: 2-6, last win in Albuquerque (3-1) was on October 10, 1998. Have lost last six matches played there.
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 52-78 record in five seasons at SJSU, and a 95-125 coaching record in eight seasons. Shepardson is five 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 10/2): Listed below are the Spartans among national leaders.
Individual Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set Luiza Andrade, 10th 0.54 ps
Service Aces Luiza Andrade, 39th 25
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set 45th 1.59 ps
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.
SERVING HELPS PROPEL SPARTANS TO WIN: San José State picked up its first conference win this past Saturday over Boise State, 3-0. One key to the match was the Spartans strong serving, recorded a season-best 12 service aces in the win. Luiza Andrade led the team with a career-best six aces. Caitlin Bettenay had two aces, while fourth others had one - Mamie Garard, Thaliana Grajeda, Fernanda Vido and Sarah Smevog.
NELSON & GRAJEDA LEADING HITTERS: Freshman Haylee Nelson and junior Thaliana Grajeda are each hitting .331 to lead the Spartans this season. They are tied for seventh in the Mountain West in hitting.
VIDO KILLIN' THE BALL: Fernanda Vido is the team's top kill collector with 142 kills in 46 sets played. She is averaging 3.09 per set for the season and recorded double-digit kills in seven matches including a season-best 23 kills against North Florida
SUNSHINE STATE: The Spartans made 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). The team played at the Owls Classic on September 14 and 15, losing to North Florida (3-2) and Florida Atlantic (3-0) before winning over South Dakota State (3-0).
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. The team won the Hampton Inn & Suites Northern Colorado Classic in Greeley on September 7 and 8. San José State returned to the state to play Colorado State last Saturday and fell 3-0. 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 States Air Force Academy.
ANDRADE READY TO MAKE A MOVE: Senior libero Luiza Andrade is closing in one number-three all-time in digs at San José State. She begins the week with 1,342 career digs, just eight behind Kristal Tsukano in third place at 1,350 digs. Andrade is just 70 digs away from 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.
BARNES MADE IMPACT IN SPARTAN GYM DEBUT: Freshman Whitney Barnes had a successful debut in her first match inside Spartan Gym on September 20. She led the team in kills with nine against Wyoming and added two digs.
UP NEXT: San José State plays two matches next week. The team hosts Nevada on Tuesday, October 9, at 6 p.m. That match will be broadcast over the air on Stadium and on the Mountain West Network. The Spartans then travel to Colorado to face Air Force on Thursday, October 11, at 6:30 p.m. MT/5:30 p.m. PT.