Spartans Rally to Win In Five Sets At New MexicoSpartans Rally to Win In Five Sets At New Mexico
Terrell Lloyd

Spartans Rally to Win In Five Sets At New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Haylee Nelson led a trio of Spartan volleyball players with double-digit kills as the San José State volleyball team rallied to win in New Mexico, 3-2, Thursday night inside the Johnson Center.
 

 
•Nelson recorded 18 kills to lead the Spartans. She added five digs, two blocks and one service ace.
 
•Nelson crept closer to 1,000 career kills as she ended the night with 977 career kills, 23 short of becoming the 16th player in school history to record 1,000 career kills.
 
•Ryan Thomison led the team with a season-high eight blocks, one solo and seven assists, and added a career-best 16 kills in the match. She teamed with Alyssa Sugai for the final block of the match to give SJSU the win.
 
•Latahevai Lousi added 14 kills, five digs and three blocks for the Spartans.
 
•Mia Schafer had 45 assists, eight digs, three kills and three block assists in the win.
 
•Sarah Smevog led the team with 15 digs and added four assists.
 
•San José State improves to 12-7 on the season and 6-3 in the MW. The 12 wins are the most for the Spartans since the 2018 season when the team was 16-11 and 11-8 in the MW.
 
•The win in Albuquerque ends an eight-match losing streak to the Lobos in Albuquerque. SJSU had not defeated New Mexico in Albuquerque since the 1998 season.
 
•Alyssa Sugai came off the bench for three blocks, three digs and a kill and combined for the final block of the match.


 
Match Summary
Set 1 – The Spartans never had a lead in the set, and the Lobos hit .440 for the set to win 25-13.
 
Set 2 – The Spartans bounced back to win the set 25-19. The team hit .545 with 18 kills on 33 attempts and no errors.
 

 
Set 3 – Spartans led 7-6 but New Mexico went on a 6-0 run to lead 12-7 and held the lead the win the set 25-18.
 
Set 4 – The two teams battled with eight lead changes and 12 tied scores. SJSU had a 24-23 lead, but the Lobos tied the score at 24-24. Nelson gave the Spartans a 25-24 lead with one of her 18 kills, and SJSU won on a New Mexico ball handling error.
 

 
Set 5 – San José State trailed 12-9, and used a 6-0 run to win the set 15-12 on a Thomison and Sugai block.
 

 
San José State def. New Mexico 13-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-12.
Kills – SJSU – Haylee Nelson 18; NM – Kaitlynn Biassou 22.
Records – San José State 12-7, 6-3; New Mexico 14-6, 5-4.
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