By Christian Vieyra (@thecvieyra) – Spear Reporter
Spartans’ freshman Teya Nguyen sets the ball in a 3-2 loss against Colorado State on Nov. 2 at the Spartan Gym. | Photo by Titus Wilkinson
SJSU women’s volleyball lost its fourth straight match, being defeated by top Mountain West team Utah State today 3-0 at the Wayne Estes Center in Logan.
Utah State won its third-straight regular season conference championship on Nov. 6 and continued its dominant run with a clean sweep against SJSU, winning the sets 25-16, 25-12 and 25-18.
“They looked like a team that’s ready to go down to Las Vegas and win a Mountain West [tournament] championship,” head coach Todd Kress said.
Even with the re-addition of Spartans’ junior Blaire Flemming, who missed all of conference after a Sept. 16 injury, the Aggies out-performed the Spartans. The Aggies dominated most of the stat line, such as 101-87 in attacks and 48-23 in kills.
Flemming’s prowess was noticeable in her return from injury, with seven kills and a service ace to lead the Spartans with eight overall points.
SJSU’s lineup was still depleted, with key starters senior Jiana Lawson and senior Letizia Cammillucci out with ankle injuries.
Lawson, the most recent Spartan to be injured, hurt her ankle in the second set of the last match against Wyoming and was questionable before today’s match.
Spartans’ junior Brooke Bryant also had seven kills in the match followed by Nayeli Ti’a with four kills and two service aces. SJSU’s junior Brooke Slusser led with 15 assists.
The Spartans never held a lead in the second and third sets.
“On our end, I thought we could have been more aggressive,” Kress said. “I thought that we were very passive at times.”
SJSU fell to a 12-16 record on the season and a 3-12 conference record.
This match was the ninth time the Spartans were swept 3-0 this season. It was also the second time they got swept by Utah State this year, previously losing at home on Oct. 14.
“[There’s] some things we need to work on Friday when we get to Boise and then hopefully put a better product on the court,” Kress said.
The Spartans will play their final road match of the season against the Boise State Broncos at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Bronco Gym.