MATCHES 26 & 27
San José State at Fresno State (20-8, 12-3)
Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif.
Thursday, November 15
7:00 p.m. PT
Mountain West Network
San José State at San Diego State (9-20, 7-9)
Aztec Court at Peterson Gym, San Diego, Calif.
Saturday, November 17
6:00 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 FINISH 2018 WITH TWO ON THE ROAD IN CALIFORNIA: The San José State volleyball team finishes the 2018 season with road matches in the state of California. The team plays at Fresno State Thursday night and at San Diego State on Saturday.
The Spartans enter the week with an 14-11 overall record and a 9-7 MW record and are tied for fifth place in the conference standings. The team has won eight of the past 10 matches. The team is looking for its third three-match winning streak of the season if the team can win in Fresno.
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."
ANDRADE HONORED BY MW: Senior Luiza Andrade has been named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week for matches held from November 6-10. Andrade averaged 5.29 digs, 2.00 assists and 0.29 service aces as the Spartans went 2-0 last week, defeating Nevada (3-1) and Air Force (3-0).
In the win against Air Force, Andrade recorded 20 digs, her ninth match with at least 20 digs this season. She also had eight assists and an ace in her final home match in a Spartan uniform. Earlier in the week, she recorded 17 digs, six assists and an ace in the team's win at Nevada.
ABOUT FRESNO STATE: The Bulldogs enter Thursday night's match with a 20-8 overall record and 12-3 mark in the conference, good for second place in the standings. The team has a three-match winning streak after defeating New Mexico, 3-2, and UNLV, 3-1, last week. Head coach Jonathan Winder is in his first season at the helm of the program.
Fresno State Leaders
Hit % .320 Haile Watson
Kills 405, 3.68 ps Taylor Slover
Assists 1092, 9.93 ps Madelyn Halteman
Aces 31, 0.28 ps Taylor Slover, Madelyn Halteman
Digs 509, 4.63 ps Reagan Leonard
Blocks 129, 1.17 ps Haile Watson
Series Record - San José State leads 50-32.
First Meeting - W, 2-0, 1977
Last Meeting - L, 3-1, October 20, 2018, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-0, October 26, 2017, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - L1
Last 10 meetings - 5-5
2018 meeting: Four Spartans had double-digit kills in the team's 3-1 loss to Fresno State on October 20. Haylee Nelson led the team with 14 kills. The two teams had 35 tied scores and 15 lead changes during the match.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs begin the week with a 9-20 overall record and 7-9 mark in the MW. The team is in eighth place in the MW standings and hosts Nevada on Thursday before the Spartans visit Aztec Court. Head coach Deitre Collins-Parker is in her 10th season at SDSU with a 155-147 record and has a 317-338 record in 23 years as a head coach.
San Diego State Leaders
Hit % .316 Deja Harris
Kills 342, 3.20 ps Deja Harris
Assists 684, 7.86 ps Delaney Taylor
Aces 47, 0.44 ps Ashlynn Dunbar
Digs 253, 2.34 ps Ashlynn Dunbar
Blocks 157, 1.35 ps Deja Harris
Series Record - San Diego State leads 21-11.
First Meeting - L, 2-1, October 22, 1977, Malibu, Calif.
Last Meeting - W, 3-2, October 18, 2018, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, October 18, 2018, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - W1
Last 10 meetings - 4-6
2018 meeting: The Spartans needed five sets with the Aztecs before winning 3-2 (17-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-14, 15-12) on October 18. Fernanda Vido led the team with 20 kills, while setter Kaitlynn Zdroik had 39 assists and nine 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 60-86 record in five seasons at SJSU, and a 103-133 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 11/12): Listed below are the Spartans among national leaders.
Individual Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set Luiza Andrade, 9th 0.51 ps
Service Aces Luiza Andrade, 14th 48
Digs Per Set Luiza Andrade, 82nd 4.72 ps
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set 12th 1.72 ps
Team Service Aces 30th 152
SERVING TOUGH: The Spartans begin the week with 162 service aces, good for the 30th highest total in the country. The team has recorded 10 or more aces in 10 matches this season including the past two with 14 against New Mexico and 10 versus UNLV. Six Spartans have 10 or more aces this year, led by Luiza Andrade with 48, followed by Thaliana Grajeda with 25, Kaitlynn Zdroik at 23, Caitlin Bettenay with 21, Fernanda Vido at 18, and Mamie Garard at 16.
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 1,599 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 is 661 digs behind Jessie Shull who had 2,260 digs from 2003-06.
Andrade also moved up the MW Career digs leader list week after recording 37 digs last week. She is now 10th all-time in MW history at 1,599 digs, and needs nine digs for ninth place, 31 digs for eighth place and 94 digs for seventh place.
BLOCK COMES ALIVE: The Spartan block has made its presence know lately. The team has recorded seven or more blocks in eight of the past 10 matches including a season-best 15.5 blocks in a win over New Mexico last week. SJSU also had 11 blocks in a five-set win at Air Force on October 11.
ANDRADE SERVING UP ACES: Luiza Andrade leads the team and is second in Mountain West in service aces with 48, 0.51 per set. She recorded a career-best six aces against Boise State on September 29. Her 48 aces are the ninth-highest total in school history.
Andrade joined the career last week after recording four aces in a win over New Mexico on November 1. She now has 121 aces in her career and needs just one to move into ninth place.
GRAJEDA LEADING HITTERS: Junior Thaliana Grajeda is hitting .312 to lead the Spartans this season and is ranked eighth in the Mountain West in hitting. She is also the team's leader in blocking with 76, 0.81 ps.