San Jose, Calif.— Three Spartans recorded double digit kills, and San José State overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat New Mexico 3-2 (25-15, 18-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11) Thursday night in a Mountain West match at Spartan Gym.
The win extends the Spartans winning streak to three matches, and the team has won six of the past seven matches.
Latahevai Lousi led the Spartan hitters with 15 kills and added four blocks. Caitlin Bettenay recorded her third consecutive double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs. Fernanda Vido added 13 kills and five digs.
Senior Luiza Andrade continued to put her name in the San José State and MW record books. She recorded a season-best 30 digs in the win and now has 1,538 career digs, second all-time at San José State. Andrade moved into 12th place among MW career dig leaders, passing Ashley Kelsey of New Mexico (1,529) and Jaime Colaizzi (1,515).
Andrade recorded four service aces in the match including three consecutive in set four and moved herself onto the San José State career service aces list. She ends the night with 118 career aces, moving into 10th place after passing Christina Lukens who had 117 aces from 1999-2002. Andrade has 45 service aces this season, tying for the 10th-highest total in school history with Darcy Walker (1999) and Shawna DiBiaso (1986).
Serving was a key to San José State's win with a season-best 14 aces, led by Thaliana Grajeda (career best) and Andrade with four service aces each. Bettenay added three aces, while Kaitlynn Zdroik had two aces and Vido added one.
The Spartans outblocked the Lobos, 15.5-13.0, led by Ryann Thomison who had a career best nine block assists. Haylee Nelson added a career-best eight block assists, and while Grajeda had six blocks.
Mamie Garard recorded her second double-double of the season with 30 assists and 11 digs. Zdroik added 26 assists and six digs in the win.
After winning the first set 25-15, the Spartans battled the Lobos early in set two, leading 11-10, before New Mexico used a 15-7 run to win the set 25-18.
San José State jumped out to an 8-1 lead, forcing a New Mexico timeout, and led 20-11 before the Lobos scored nine consecutive points to get within one at 20-19. The Spartans led 23-21 before a ball handling error, two hitting errors and a Lobo kill gave UNM the 25-23 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, the two teams traded the lead five times and had nine tied scores before the Spartans took the lead for good at 24-23 on a Lousi kill and won the set 25-23 on a Bettenay kill.
The Spartans took the lead at 3-2 on a Thomison and Nelson block, maintained the lead the rest of the set and won 15-11 on a Thomison kill.
San José State is now 12-10 overall and 7-6 in the MW. The Spartans take their three-match winning streak into Saturday's matchup with UNLV. First serve is set for 2 p.m., inside Spartan Gym, located on the corner of Fourth and San Carlos Streets. Tickets are available at the door for $8 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.
MW Match
Spartan Gym
San José State def. New Mexico – 25-15, 18-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11.
Kills – NM – Tai Bierria 15, Lauren Twitty 12.
SJSU – Latahevai Lousi 15, Caitlin Bettenay 14, Fernanda Vido 13.
Records – New Mexico 13-12, 7-6; San José State 12-10, 7-6.
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