SAN JOSE, Calif.—Amethyst Harper tied her season-best with 18 kills to help the San José State volleyball team to a 3-1 win over UC San Diego Saturday afternoon inside Spartan Gym.
Harper hit .361 for the match with a team-best 18 kills on 36 swings and only five errors. She also had two aces, seven digs and a career-high five blocks.
Hear from winning head coach @trentkersten pic.twitter.com/IprTm2NrIa
— SJSU VOLLEYBALL (@SanJoseStateVB) September 18, 2021
•For the match, the Spartans hit .301 with 55 kills and only 18 hitting errors. Two other Spartans recorded double-digit kills – Latahevai Lousi with 14 and Ryann Thomison with 10. Louis hit .333 for the match (14-5-27), while Thomison had a .500 hitting percentage (10-1-18).
•The Spartans recorded 13 aces in the match, led by Mia Schafer with four, Haylee Nelson with three and Lousi, Harper and Sarah Smevog each with two.
•Freshman Brooke Bryant made her first start in a Spartan uniform. She led the team in blocking – one solo and 5 assists. She also recorded two kills and two digs in four sets played.
•Smevog led the defense with 16 digs, while Nelson added 14 digs, and Schafer recorded eight.
Match Summary
Set 1 – The Spartans had to fight back from an 18-12 deficit to tie the set at 22-22 on a Nelson service ace. The Tritons took a 23-22 lead, SJSU tied the set, but UCSD capitalized on a Spartan service error and a block by Juliette Bokor to win the set 25-23 over SJSU.
Set 2 – After the first-set loss, the Spartans took control of the set from the first serve to win 25-16 on one of Harper's 18 kills on the day.
Set 3 – San José State easily won the third set 25-13, the biggest lead of the set coming on the final point. The team hit .357 in the win.
Set 4 – The Spartans led from the first serve en route to the 25-19 win as Bryant and Harper combined for the final block and Spartan point of the match.
San José State opens Mountain West play next week with home matches against UNLV on Thursday at 6 p.m., and Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be played at Spartan Gym inside the YUH Complex.
San José State def. UC San Diego 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-19).
Kills – UCSD – Emily McDaniel 11; SJSU – Amethyst Harper 18.
Records – UC San Diego 3-8; San José State 6-4.
#SpartanUp