San Diego, Calif.—The comeback Spartans fell just short Thursday night as the San José State volleyball team lost 3-2 at San Diego State in the Mountain West opener for both schools.
For the second time this season, San José State fell behind 0-2 in a match and came back to force a fifth set. Unlike the win against North Texas, the Spartans were unable to close out the fifth set as the Aztecs won 16-14. When SDSU thought they won the match at 15-13, Spartan head coach Jolene Shepardson challenged the play and got the call overturned to extend the set at 14-14. A Spartan service error and an Aztec kill closed out the match.
Latahevai Lousi led the Spartan hitting attack with 12 kills and hit .333 for the match (12-3-27). Haylee Nelson and Tabea Schwarz each had nine kills in the loss.
The Spartans outblocked SDSU, 14-11, led by Laura Parts who came off the bench and recorded a career-best seven blocks. Thaliana Grajeda moved up the San José State career blocking lists, moving into eighth with five block assists in the match and 284 in her career. She now has 306 career blocks after recording six Thursday night.
Sarah Smevog led the Spartan defense with 19 digs, while Drae Fresenius came off the bench to record her first collegiate double-double with 17 assists and 15 digs.
The hitting woes for the Spartans were very obvious in the three sets lost Thursday night. The team hit .053 in those three sets (26-21-94), but were at .328 in the two sets won (26-6-61). SJSU also had 17 service errors but just four service aces.
The team started the match losing the first two sets 25-14 and 25-23, never possessing the lead in either set. In the third set, SJSU had an 8-4 lead and then had to battle with the Aztecs the rest of the set before winning 25-21.
The fourth set featured eight lead changes and 14 tie scores. The Spartans had set point at 24-23 and 25-24, and SDSU had match point at 26-25. San José State tied the set at 26-26 on an Aztec service error, took the lead on a block by Grajeda and Nelson and won 28-26 on an Aztec hitting error.
The fifth set was just as competitive with four lead changes and nine ties. The biggest lead by either team was three points before San Diego State won 16-14. The Spartans fought off match points at 14-11, 14-12 and 14-13 before tying the set at 14-14.
The Spartans return home on Saturday the 28th to host Fresno State in an MW match. 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.
San Diego State def. San José State 3-2 (25-14, 25-23, 21-25, 26-28, 16-14)
Kills – SJSU – Latahevai Lousi 12; SDSU – Victoria O'Sullivan 20.
Records – San José State 5-7, 0-1; San Diego State 8-4, 1-0.