MATCHES 24 & 25
San José State at Nevada (8-17, 1-13)
Virginia Street Gym, Reno, Nev.
Tuesday, November 6
6:30 p.m. PT
Mountain West Network/Stadium
Air Force (13-14, 3-10) vs. San José State
Spartan Gym, San Jose, Calif.
Saturday, November 10
2:00 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 SPLIT WEEK ON THE ROAD AND AT HOME: The San José State volleyball team splits time this week between the road and Spartan Gym for two Mountain West matches. The Spartans travel up Interstate 80 to play at Nevada Tuesday night before returning home to host Air Force on Saturday, the final home match of the 2018 season.
The Spartans enter the week with an 12-11 overall record and 7-7 MW record and are alone in seventh place in the conference standings. The team has won six of the past eight matches and had two three-match winning streaks during that span.
SENIOR DAY: Saturday's match against Air Force is the final home match of the 2018 season and the final home appearance for two seniors - Luiza Andrade and Giulia Gávio. Both players will be honored after the match. Both players are four-year members of the Spartan team.
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."
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 NEVADA: The Wolf Pack enter Tuesday night's match with an 8-17 overall record and 1-13 MW mark. The team's only conference win came against Utah State (3-2) on September 29. Head coach Lee Nelson is in his fourth season at the school with a 49-66 record.
Nevada Leaders
Hit % .261 Hailey Maniglia
Kills 312, 3.22 ps Kayla Afoa
Assists 702, 8.16 ps Dalyn Burns
Aces 25, 0.40 ps Ashley Maki
Digs 364, 3.87 ps Mo Maluotoga
Blocks 71, 0.73 ps Hailey Maniglia
Series Record - San José State leads 29-22.
First Meeting - W, 2-0, October 7, 1978, Berkeley, Calif.
Last Meeting - W, 3-1, October 9, 2018, Spartan Gym
Last SJSU Win - 3-1, October 9, 2018, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - Won 2
Last 10 Matches: 4-6
2018 meeting: The Spartans won 3-1 on October 9, inside Spartan Gym. Three Spartans recorded double-digit kills - Latahevai Lousi with 16, Fernanda Vido with 11, and Thaliana Grajeda with 10. Grajeda hit .500 for the match (10-1-18).
ABOUT AIR FORCE: The Falcons begin the week with a 13-14 overall record and 3-10 MW mark, good for ninth place in the standings. The team plays at Nevada Thursday night before traveling to San Jose. Head coach Marc Swindle is in his third season at the school with a 37-53 record.
Air Force Leaders
Hit % .273 Elizabeth Pennington
Kills 342, 3.20 ps Abigail Miksch
Assists 576, 5.38 ps Shaleigh Conlan
Aces 29, 0.27 ps Shaleigh Conlan
Digs 276, 2.60 ps Denise Ssozi
Blocks 97, 0.90 ps Kathleen Medill
Series Record - San José State leads 10-4.
First Meeting - W, 3-0, October 12, 1996, The Event Center, San Jose, Calif.
Last Meeting - W, 3-2, October 11, 2018, USAFA Academy, Colo.
Last SJSU Win - W, 3-2, October 11, 2018, USAFA Academy, Colo.
Current Streak - Won 5
Last 10 matches: 6-4
2018 meeting: The Spartans had to fight off the Falcons for a 3-2 win in Colorado on October 11. Latahevai Lousi led the team with 16 kills. SJSU had 11 blocks in the win.
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 58-86 record in five seasons at SJSU, and a 101-133 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 11/5): 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, 12th 46
Digs Per Set Luiza Andrade, 86th 4.68 ps
Team Rankings (Top 100)
Aces Per Set 9th 1.75 ps
Team Service Aces 28th 152
SERVING TOUGH: The Spartans begin the week with 152 service aces, good for the 28th 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 46, followed by Thaliana Grajeda with 24, Kaitlynn Zdroik at 22, Fernanda Vido at 18, Caitlin Bettenay with 17 and Mamie Garard at 15.
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 1,562 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 698 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 54 digs in two matches. She is now 12th all-time in MW history at 1,562 digs, and needs eight digs for 11th place, 16 digs for 10th place and 46 digs for ninth place.
BLOCK COMES ALIVE: The Spartan block has made its presence know lately. The team has recorded seven or more blocks in seven of the eight 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 46, 0.53 per set. She recorded a career-best six aces against Boise State on September 29. Her 46 aces are the 10th-highest total in school history. She needs one to move into ninth place and three for eighth place.
Andrade joined the career last week after recording four aces in a win over New Mexico. She now has 119 aces in her career and needs just three to move into ninth place.
GRAJEDA LEADING HITTERS: Junior Thaliana Grajeda is hitting .326 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 66, 0.76 ps.
VIDO KILLIN' THE BALL: Fernanda Vido is the team's top kill collector with 219 kills in 80 sets played. She is averaging 2.74 per set for the season and recorded double-digit kills in 11 matches including a season-best 23 kills against North Florida
UP NEXT: San José State plays the final two matches of the season on the road in California. The team travels to the Central Valley to face Fresno State on the 15th at 7 p.m., before traveling to San Diego State for a match on the 17th at 6 p.m.