Fresno, Calif.—Four Spartan volleyball players recorded double-digit kills, and Luiza Andrade had another spectacular match defensively as San José State picked up a 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24) road win at Fresno State Thursday night in a Mountain West match.
Latahevai Lousi, for the 10th match this season, led the Spartans with 17 kills. Caitlin Bettenay had her sixth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 15 digs. Thaliana Grajeda hit a team-best .455 with 11 kills on 22 attempts and only one error. Giulia Gávio rounded out the quartet with 10 kills, five digs and three blocks including two solo blocks.
Andrade recorded a season-best 33 digs in the match, tying Jessie Shull for the ninth-best dig total for a match in school history. This was her second match this season and fourth of her career that she recorded 30 or more digs in a match.
For the season, Andrade now has 477 digs, good for fourth place on the San José State single-season list. She also moved up to eighth on the MW career list as she enters Saturday's match with 1,632 career digs.
Mamie Garard recorded her third double-double of the season with 23 assists and 12 digs. Kaitlynn Zdroik added 22 assists, six digs and three kills.
The Spartans outblocked the Bulldogs, 11-10. Ryann Thomison led SJSU with five blocks, while Lousi and Grajeda each recorded four blocks. Gávio recorded the only two solo blocks for the Spartans.
San José State never trailed in the first two sets, winning 25-22 and 25-22. In the third set, Fresno State took a lead early on and led by as many as seven at 13-6. The Spartans tied the set at 20-20 but could not take the lead as the Spartans won 25-23.
The fourth set featured 12 tied scores and six lead changes. San José State held the lead for much of the match. Fresno State tied the set at 22-22, forcing a Spartan timeout. SJSU then scored two points to take a 24-22 lead and forcing Fresno State to take a timeout. The Bulldogs then tied the match at 24-24 before back-to-back Spartan kills by Zdroik and Gávio gave San José State the 26-24 win.
The Spartans are now 10-7 in the MW. The 10 conference wins are the most by Spartan volleyball team since the 2000 season. That year, San José State went 13-3 and finished second in the Western Athletic Conference. The 2000 team finished the season with a 22-10 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
San José State is now 15-11 on the season. The team plays at San Diego State this Saturday night at 6 p.m., in the final match of the 2018 season.
MW Match
Fresno, Calif.
San José State def. Fresno State – 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24.
Kills – SJSU – Latahevai Lousi 17, Caitlin Bettenay 14, Thaliana Grajeda 11, Giulia Gávio 10.
FS – Taylor Slover 25, Jessica Gilbert 11.
Records – San José State 15-11, 10-7; Fresno State 20-9, 12-4.
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