San Jose, Calif.—The Spartan volleyball team did something that hasn't been done in 17 years as San José State used a dominant performance Saturday afternoon in a 3-0 win over Marist inside Spartan Gym as part of the South Bay Battle.
The Spartans serve was hard for the Red Foxes to return as the team recorded a season-best 14 service aces. The team has not recorded at least 14 aces in a match in 17 years, the last time was September 7, 2002, when SJSU had 18 aces in a 3-1 win over Cal Poly at the Stanford Tournament.
Five Spartans had at least one service ace, led by Thaliana Grajeda who tied her career-high with five. Makayla Lewis served up four aces, while Sarah Smevog added three. Mamie Garard and Haylee Nelson each had one.
San José State hit a season-high .459 in the match and held Marist to only .062. All five Spartan hitters hit .423 or better in the match. Grajeda led the team at .556 (5-0-9), while Lewis hit .500 (8-2-12).
Nelson led the Spartans with 13 kills and hit .423 for the match (13-2-26). Lousi added 11 kills as she hit .444 (11-3-18).
Garard recorded her second double-double of the weekend with 33 assists and 10 digs, while Sarah Smevog led SJSU with 12 digs.
"We stuck to our game plan today," said Garard. "We knew we had to play better after yesterday's match. The hitters were crushing anything I gave them."
San José State led the match from the first serve and never gave up the lead over the three sets. The team outblocked Marist, 9-1, led by Lousi, Grajeda and Nelson who each have four blocks. Ryann Thomison added three blocks, while Lewis had a solo block. For her efforts on the weekend, Grajeda was named to the South Bay Battle all-tournament team.
"We did a much better job today of being consistent with our play," said Spartan head coach Jolene Shepardson. "We put consistent pressure on our opponent and brought a high level of execution today. We gained a lot of confidence today and played well."
The Spartans are now 4-5 on the season and travel across the country to play in the Big Apple Tournament hosted by Columbia in New York City. The team plays LIU on Thursday the 19th and Columbia on the 20th.
South Bay Battle
San José State def. Marist 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-11).
Kills – Marist – Megan Fergus 7; SJSU – Haylee Nelson 13.
Records – Marist 2-7; San José State 4-5.
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