By Anthony Lucido — Staff Writer
San Jose State women’s volleyball was defeated in a well-fought match against the Fresno State Bulldogs 3-2 on Friday.
SJSU started off strong, leading Fresno 9-4 in the first set.
The Bulldogs were able to catch up and ended up taking the first set 25-21.
SJSU carried the same energy they started with into the second set, starting with a two-point lead.
Fresno tried its best to close the gap, but the Spartans spearheaded through with a massive seven-point lead 25-18, winning the second set.
This time the Bulldogs took the third set by the jaws and ran with an early lead over SJSU 8-5.
The Spartans and Bulldogs went back and forth in the third set which went extra time since there was a 25-25 tie. From there it was must win by two to win the set.
After being neck-and-neck for so long, SJSU prevailed 28-26, taking the third set.
Things started getting tense with both teams taking the fourth match slowly and the lead changing early on.
The Bulldogs held small one or two-point leads over the Spartans mid-set, but were able to increase the gap and take the set 25-20.
With both teams tied at two sets each, each entered the fifth and final set with the typical winner-takes-all nerves.
The fifth set only requires 15-points to claim it, versus the 25-points needed for the other sets.
Fresno was able to gain a lead over SJSU and went on the offensive, exploding their lead to six-points 9-3.
The Spartans, slowly but surely, closed the gap to five and trailed 14-9.
With SJSU slowly catching up and one point remaining, Fresno took the last set 15-9 and won the match 3-2.
Junior middle blocker Haylee Nelson and senior outside hitter Latahevai Lousi played an exceptional game for SJSU, both leading in kills, attacks, digs, blocks and points.
Nelson led with 15 kills, 53 attacks, 21 digs, 2 blocks and 17.0 points.
Lousi also had an impressive performance with 14 kills, 39 attacks, 14 digs, 1 block and 15.5 points.
The SJSU women’s volleyball team will be facing off against University of Nevada at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 5.
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