New York, N.Y.—Haylee Nelson led the Spartans in hitting as San José State overcame a 2-1 deficit but could not get the fifth-set victory as the team fell at Columbia, 3-2, Friday night as part of the Big Apple Tournament.
Nelson led the Spartan hitting attack with 21 kills and hit .317 for the match (21-8-41). She also had eight digs and three service aces for SJSU.
Two others recorded double-digit kills – Thaliana Grajeda and Makayla Lewis each with 10 kills. Grajeda led the team with four service aces and two blocks, while Lewis had five digs and a block.
Mamie Garard had 29 assists, four digs, four kill and two blocks, while Sarah Smevog added 19 digs, seven assists and two aces. Drae Fresenius added 12 assists, three digs and an ace.
The Spartan hitters started the match hot in winning the first set 25-23. They hit .429 with 18 kills on 28 attempts and only six errors. SJSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but the Lions fought back and had an 18-15 lead before the Spartans scored 10 of the next 15 points for the win.
Columbia then responded by starting the second set with a 7-0 run, forcing SJSU head coach Jolene Shepardson to call a timeout. The Spartans fought back to tie the set at 15-15, before the Lions scored 10 of the next 13 points to win 25-18.
The two teams battled in the third set as SJSU trailed 19-16, and used 4-0 run to take a 20-19 lead on Laura Parts kill from Drae Fresenius. Parts returned to the lineup for the first time in over a year after an injury sidelined her for the 2018 season. The Spartans had three set points but could not put the Lions away as Columbia won 27-25.
In the fourth set, San José State was down 14-12 before using a 4-0 run to take the lead at 16-14. SJSU then maintained the lead for the 25-22 win on another Parts kills.
San José State jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but the Lions then scored six consecutive points to lead 7-3 and took the fifth and deciding set win 15-8.
In the three sets lost, San José State hit just .104 (31-21-96) including .053 in the fifth set. The team was just the opposite in the two sets won with 34 kills on 66 attempts and only 10 errors for a .364 hitting percentage.
San José State finishes the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 5-6 overall record. The team begins Mountain West play next week with two matches – at San Diego State on Thursday the 26th at 6 p.m., and hosting Fresno State on Saturday the 28th at 2 p.m. inside Spartan Gym.
Big Apple Tournament
Columbia def. San José State 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 27-25, 22-25, 15-8)
Kills – SJSU – Haylee Nelson 21; COL – Chichi Ikwuazom 29.
Records – San José State 5-6; Columbia 6-2.
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