By Andrew Hartley(@andrewhart1ey) – Spear Reporter
Brooke Slusser preparing to serve to lead off the match | Andrew Hartley – The Spear
Only six points separated SJSU women’s volleyball (9-5, 0-1 MW) and UNLV (10-4, 2-0 MW) Thursday night, but the five self-induced violations caused the Spartans to lose their Mountain West opener 3-0.
Notably, the team’s kill leader Blaire Fleming did not appear in the game without reason for absence announced. Fleming averages over three kills a set and the Spartans lost all sets by just two.
“It didn’t feel like a 3-0 sweep,” said SJSU head coach Todd Kress. “This is not an eighth-place team.”
With the first set coming to a close all knotted at 24, SJSU made an out-of-rotation violation costing them a point in a set that was ultimately won 27-25.
The second set finished 25-23 Rebels coming at the hands of back-to-back net violations along with a back row violation giving UNLV three points.
Missing arguably their best offensive player, other Spartans picked up the slack.
Senior Letizia Cammillucci led the team with 14 kills and posted a hitting percentage of 0.286.
Mountain West freshman of the week Nayeli Ti’a was everywhere on the court once again with nine digs and kills, both second for the team.
The left hand of Brooke Slusser was also dominant for SJSU with a team high of 14 assists and four kills.
But the unforced errors prevented the Spartans from taking a win in their conference opener.
“We just have to go back, watch some film and see what we can do to clean up those opportunities,” said Kress.
Battle tested, SJSU women’s volleyball played seven matches within 10 days from Sept. 8-16. Heading into Las Vegas, the Spartans finished with two wins at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Dunn Campbell Invitational.
Coach Kress will look for his first Mountain West win on Saturday when SJSU plays at San Diego State at 1 p.m. Saturday.