MATCHES 22 & 23
New Mexico (13-11, 7-5) vs. San José State
Spartan Gym, San Jose, Calif.
Thursday, November 1
6:00 p.m. PT
UNLV (16-8, 7-5) at San José State
Spartan Gym, San Jose, Calif.
Saturday, November 3
2:00 p.m. PT
Live stats - https://sjsuspartans.com/schedule.aspx?path=wvball
SPARTANS BRING WINNING STREAK INTO HOME MATCHES: The San José State volleyball team brings a two-match winning streak to Spartan Gym for two home matches this week. The team has just three home matches remaining for the 2018 season - the two this week and November 10 against Air Force. This week, the team plays New Mexico on Thursday and UNLV on Saturday. Both Spartan opponents are tied for fourth place in the Mountain West standings at 7-5, while SJSU is just one match behind, tied for sixth place with Boise State at 6-6.
The Spartans enter the week with an 11-10 overall record and 6-6 MW record. The team begins the week with a two-match winning streak and have won five of the past six matches, dating back to October 9. The only loss came to then-MW leader Fresno State (3-1, Oct. 20).
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: There is no live video for this week's matches.
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 NEW MEXICO: The Lobos come into Thursday night's match with a 13-11 overall record and 7-5 MW mark. The team is tied with UNLV for fourth place in the conference standings, and won a pair of matches last week against Air Force (3-1) and UNLV (3-0). Head coach Jeff Nelson is in his 12th year at the school with a 216-144 record and has a 458-290 coaching record in 24 years.
New Mexico Leaders
Hit % .293 Victoria Spragg
Kills 327, 3.48 ps Lauren Twitty
Assists 522, 5.49 ps Sabrina Bianco
Aces 17, 0.18 ps Sabrina Bianco
Digs 258, 3.63 ps Mercedes Pacheco
Blocks 101, 1.06 ps Victoria Spragg
Series Record - New Mexico leads 16-5.
First Meeting - L, 2-0, September 26, 1981, San Jose, Calif.
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, October 6, 2018, Johnson Center
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, October 7, 2017, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - L2
Last 10 meetings -2-8
2018 meeting: The Spartans lost in Albuquerque, 3-0, on October 6. Latahevai Lousi led the Spartans with 11 kills, and Giulia Gávio returned to the floor for the first time in almost a year after suffering a knee injury in 2017.
ABOUT UNLV: The Rebels begin the week with a 16-8 overall record and 7-5 MW mark. The team plays at Nevada Thursday night before traveling to San Jose. Head coach Dawn Sullivan is in her first year as a head coach and at UNLV.
UNLV Leaders
Hit % .361 Kate Brennan
Kills 392, 4.51 ps Mariena Hayden
Assists 778, 8.64 ps Antonette Rolda
Aces 82, 0.46 ps Mariena Hayden
Digs 268, 3.08 ps Mariena Hayden
Blocks 88, 0.98 ps Elsa Descamps
Series Record - UNLV leads 9-7.
First Meeting - W, 3-1, October 11, 1996, The Event Center
Last Meeting - L, 3-1, October 4, 2018, Cox Pavilion
Last SJSU Win - 3-1, November 4, 2017, Cox Pavilion
Current Streak - L1
Last 10 meetings - 2-8
2018 meeting: UNLV won 3-1 as the two teams met in Las Vegas in early October. Latahevai Lousi had a team-high 12 kills, while Ryann Thomison hit .421 with 10 kills. Luiza Andrade recorded a season-best 28 digs.
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 57-85 record in five seasons at SJSU, and a 100-132 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 REACHES 100 CAREER WINS: Spartan head coach Jolene Shepardson recorded her 100th career victory in the 3-0 win at Boise State on October 27. 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 10/29): Listed below are the Spartans among national leaders.
Individual Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set Luiza Andrade, 6th 0.53 ps
Service Aces Luiza Andrade, 17th 41
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set 23rd 1.63 ps
Team Service Aces 86th 127
ANDRADE SERVING UP ACES: Luiza Andrade leads the team and is second in Mountain West in service aces with 41, 0.53 per set. She recorded a career-best six aces against Boise State on September 29. Andrade has 114 for her career and is very close to the top-10 career ace list at San José State.
ANDRADE SECOND ALL-TIME IN DIGS AT SJSU: Senior libero Luiza Andrade has cemented herself into second place on the career digs list at San José State with 1,508 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 752 digs over the next six 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 1,508 digs, seven 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 .329 to lead the Spartans this season and is ranked sixth in the Mountain West in hitting. She is also the team's leader in blocking with 58, 0.74 ps.
VIDO KILLIN' THE BALL: Fernanda Vido is the team's top kill collector with 206 kills in 75 sets played. She is averaging 2.75 per set for the season and recorded double-digit kills in 10 matches including a season-best 23 kills against North Florida
UP NEXT: San José State goes on the road next Tuesday, November 6, for a match at Nevada beginning at 6:30 p.m. The team then plays the final home match of the 2018 season on Saturday, November 10, against Air Force at 2 p.m. Seniors Giulia Gávio and Luiza Andrade will be honored after the match.