By Aikman Fang (@aikmanfang) – Spear Reporter
San Jose State volleyball (21-9, 14-4 MW) came up short against Utah State (22-10, 10-7 MW) in four sets in the Mountain West Championship match on Friday evening. The Spartans punched a ticket to the championship after defeating San Diego State on Thursday.
The Aggies ran off with an early 8-4 lead before fifth-year outside hitter Haylee Nelson led the Spartans to a 10-2 run and gave them a 14-10 lead. Nelson had five kills in the opening set.
SJSU volleyball won the first set 26-24 over Utah State after junior middle blocker Jiana Lawson and sophomore outside hitter Blaire Fleming teamed up for the set-clinching block. Both Lawson and Fleming led the Spartans with four blocks throughout the match.
The Aggies bounced back by taking a 17-9 lead in the next round over the Spartans. Two attack errors from Utah State shrunk its lead to 17-11 and gave SJSU an opportunity to come back in the round.
Utah State took the second set 25-14, after back-to-back kills from senior outside hitter Adna Mehmedovic. She provided four kills for the Aggies in the set and 13 in total by the end of the match.
The Aggies sprinted to a 15-7 start in the third set over the Spartans. SJSU managed to trim Utah State’s lead to 19-15 after Fleming and sophomore outside hitter Madeline Boerstra joined up for a block.
Utah State went on a 6-2 run to secure a 25-17 win over SJSU in the third set.
The Aggies continued their dominance by taking an 11-6 lead in the fourth set. A kill from Nelson cut Utah State’s lead to 17-16. This was the closest SJSU got to tying the score before Utah State seized the last set with a 25-19 win.
Nelson finished with a team-high 13 kills. She now moves into fifth place all-time in SJSU’s career kills with 1,439.
Fifth-year libero Sarah Smevog provided a team-high 10 digs and moves into second place all-time in career digs at SJSU with 1,734.
Both Nelson and Smevog were named to the Mountain West All-Tournament team after the match.
“Having back-to-back years of record-breaking seasons, and to come up short, it really hurts,” said head coach Trent Kersten.
In its second season under Kersten, SJSU volleyball appeared in its first Mountain West Championship and finishes with 21 wins for the first time since the 2001 season.
