Aikman Fang (@AikmanFang) – Spear Reporter
No. 2 seed San Jose State volleyball (21-8, 14-4 MW) triumphed over No. 6 seed San Diego Sate (11-20, 8-10 MW) in four sets to advance to the finals of the Mountain West Volleyball Championship.
The previous time these two squads faced off, the Aztecs defeated the Spartans in their last match of the regular season.
SJSU volleyball started with an early 18-9 lead over SDSU in the first set. Sophomore outside hitter Madeline Boerstra led the Spartans to a 25-17 win. Boerstra finished with five kills in the first frame.
The Aztecs bounced back in the second set by taking an early 9-4 advantage.
SJSU responded by shrinking its deficit to 20-16 after a service ace from fifth-year libero Sarah Smevog. She provided 16 total digs in the match for the Spartans.
However, the Aztecs took the second set 25-17 after going on a 5-1 run to the end the set.
SDSU had SJSU on its heels after starting with a 12-5 lead in a divisive third frame. The Spartans battled back to even the score 17-17 off a kill from senior outside hitter Amethyst Harper.
Sophomore Blaire Fleming propelled the Spartans to a 25-19 win in the third set with five kills in the frame. She had 10 kills overall and hit .348 over the course of the match.
SJSU charged ahead to a 13-4 run to start the fourth set. SDSU rallied back to make it a three-point ball game after an attack error from Fleming.
The Aztecs eventually took a 24-23 lead over the Spartans but failed to finish them off. The score was tied 25-25 until Fleming recorded another kill and teamed up with senior middle blocker Yazmin Pitpit on the match-clinching block. The Spartans won the final set 27-25.
Fifth-year outside hitter Haylee Nelson led the Spartans with 11 kills and is now tied for fifth on the SJSU career kills list with Dawnis Wilson.
“It embodies what Spartan volleyball is all about,” said head coach Trent Kersten.
SJSU will play No. 4 seed Utah State for the MW Volleyball Championship on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
This is the first time SJSU volleyball has made it to the postseason tournament and it has not played in a championship match since 2003, back when it was in the Western Athletic Conference.