MATCHES 28 & 29
#11 Colorado State (26-1, 16-0) at San José State (10-17, 5-11)
Spartan Gym, San Jose, Calif.
Thursday, November 21
6:00 p.m. PT
First 50 fans get a Spartan Throwback T-shirt.
Live Stats - http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=270701
Live video -https://watchstadium.com/live/colorado-state-at-san-jose-state/
Wyoming (19-8, 14-2) at San José State (10-17, 5-11)
Spartan Gym, San Jose, Calif.
Saturday, November 23
2:00 p.m. PT
Senior Match
First 50 fans get a Spartan T-shirt.
Live stats - http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=270702
Live video - https://watchstadium.com/live/wyoming-at-san-jose-state/
FINAL MATCHES OF 2019: San José State finishes the 2019 season at home this weekend facing the top-two teams in the Mountain West - #11 Colorado State Thursday night and second-place Wyoming Saturday afternoon.
San José State enters the weekend looking to stop a two-match losing streak after falling at New Mexico (3-1) and at UNLV (3-0) last week. The Spartans are tied for eighth with New Mexico and Air Force at 5-11 in the conference standings.
LIVE VIDEO: Both home 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 and select "Mountain West Network."
SENIOR MATCH Saturday's match against Wyoming will be the final time five Spartans will make their last appearance in a San José State uniform. This year's senior class includes Caitlin Bettenay, a two-year player who transferred from Portland State; Fernanda Vido, a three-year Spartan who transferred from Eastern Washington; and Thaliana Grajeda and Kaitlynn Zdroik who are four-year players for the Spartans. Redshirt junior Laura Parts will be graduating and is finishing her collegiate career this week.
ABOUT #11 COLORADO STATE: The Rams enter the week as the 2019 Mountain West Champions after clinching the title last week with a 3-0 sweep of Boise State last Saturday night. Colorado State enters Saturday night's match with a 26-1 overall record and 16-0 in the MW. Head coach Tom Hilbert is in his 23rd year at the school and 31st as a collegiate head coach.
Colorado State Leaders
Hit % .401 Kirstie Hillyer
Kills 346, 3.76 ps Breana Runnels
Assists 986, 11.08 ps Katie Oleksak
Aces 33, 0.40 ps Alyssa Bert
Digs 363, 3.95 ps Alexa Roumeliotis
Blocks 124, 1.34 ps Kirstie Hillyer
Series Record - Colorado State leads 14-6.
First Meeting - W, 3-1, September 20, 1984, Spartan Gym
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, Moby Arena, Fort Collins, Colo.
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, November 11, 2017, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - L1
Last 10 meetings -2-8
2019 meeting - Colorado State swept the Spartans 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-19) on October 24 in Fort Collins. Haylee Nelson and Thaliana Grajeda led SJSU with six kills each. Nelson hit .312 for the match (6-1-16) and led the team with 10 digs. Grajeda added four digs and a team-best three block assists.
ABOUT WYOMING: The Cowgirls begin the week with a 19-8 overall record and 14-2 MW mark, good for second place in the conference. The team plays at Nevada Thursday night before coming to San Jose. Head coach Chad Callihan is in his seventh season at the school.
Wyoming Leaders
Hit % .375 Jackie McBride
Kills 294, 2.97 ps KC McMahon
Assists 793, 9.67 ps Mackenzie Coates
Aces 0, 0.29 ps Madi Fields
Digs 468, 4.54 ps Madi Fields
Blocks 132, 1.28 ps Jackie McBride
Series Record - Wyoming leads 12-4.
First Meeting - W, 3-0, October 1, 1983, Berkeley, Calif.
Last Meeting - L, 3-0, October 19, 2019, Laramie, Wyo.
Last SJSU Win - 3-2, October 1, 2015, Spartan Gym
Current Streak - L7
Last 10 meetings -1-9
2019 meeting - The Cowgirls swept SJSU 3-0 (29-27, 25-15, 25-19) in Laramie on October 26. Fernanda Vido hit .429 with a team-best 15 kills on 28 attempts and only three errors.
HEAD COACH JOLENE SHEPARDSON: San José State head coach Jolene Shepardson is in her sixth season at the helm of the program and ninth as a head coach. She has a 72-103 record in six seasons at SJSU, and a 115-150 coaching record in nine seasons.
SPARTAN GYM NOT TOO NICE TO THE RAMS: The last three matches Colorado State has played at Spartan Gym have been memorable for one of the schools. (The Rams did not make a visit to San Jose for the 2018 season.)
2015 - An historic match in Mountain West history, Ram Adrianna Culbert recorded the first quadruple-double in Colorado State and MW history with 10 kills, 20 assists, 13 digs and 11 blocks. Colorado State won the match 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-19).
2016 - After falling behind 0-2, San José State rallied to win the next three sets and upset Mountain West leader Colorado State 3-2 (16-25, 14-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-11) on October 20. The Spartans defeated Colorado State for the first time since the 1998 season (WAC Tournament, Quarterfinal match). San José State also ended the Rams 31-MW match winning streak dating back to November 1, 2014, and the 14-straight MW matches CSU had won on the road.
2017 - For the second consecutive year, the Spartans halted #19 Colorado State's winning streak as the Spartans upset the Rams, 3-2 (20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-21, 15-11) on November 11. The Spartans stopped Colorado State's 15-match winning streak and 16-set winning streak and handed the Rams just their third loss of the season . San José State had not beaten a ranked opponent since a 3-2 win over #22 Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on November 30, 2001. Fernanda Vido had a double-double in the match as she led all hitters with 18 kills and added 10 digs.
SMEVOG ENTERS TOP-10 DIG NUMBERS: Sarah Smevog jumped into the San José State single-season top-10 dig list last week, collecting 36 digs in the two matches. She enters the week with 439 digs, good for seventh place and could go as high as fourth place if she records 60 digs in the final two matches of the season.
DIGS TOTAL YEAR
1. Jessie Shull 676 2006
2. Jessie Shull 561 2004
3. Jessie Shull 550 2005
4. Luiza Andrade 498 2018
5. Jessie Shull 473 2003
6. Luiza Andrade 440 2017
7. Sarah Smevog 439 2019
8. Kim Hicks 435 1988
9. Luiza Andrade 434 2016
10. Lisa Ice 429 1986
GRAJEDA MOVING UP SJSU CAREER BLOCKING LISTS: Senior Thaliana Grajeda continues climbing up two San José State career blocking lists. She is sixth in block assists with 324 and seventh in blocks with 352.
BLOCK ASSISTS TOTAL YEARS
1. Joslynn Gallop 391 1997-00
2. Melissa Myers 370 1995-98
3. Barbara Higgins 340 1984-87
4. Liz Hudson 337 2000-02
5. Nandyala Gama 325 2014-17
6. Thaliana Grajeda 324 2016-C
7. Cristin Rossman 291 1991-94
8. Stephanie Pascucci 287 1999-02
9. Colleen Burke 281 2005-08
10. Kim Hicks 279 1985-88
TOTAL BLOCKS TOTAL YEARS
1. Joslynn Gallop 456 1997-00
2. Barbara Higgins 447 1984-87
3. Melissa Myers 445 1995-98
4. Nandyala Gama 366 2014-17
5. Liz Hudson 365 2000-02
6. Cristin Rossman 357 1991-94
7. Thaliana Grajeda 352 2016-C
8. Kim Hicks 324 1985-88
9. Stephanie Pascucci 314 1999-02
10. Colleen Burke 301 2005-08