By Haddy Barghouti (HB_SportsBeat) – Spear Reporter | Spartans fueled by a crucial fourth-set point before falling 3-1 to UC Santa Barbara on Aug. 29. (Photo by Mohammad Najimi – Spear photographer)
San Jose State women’s volleyball (1–3) notched their first victory of the season, defeating Hawaii (0–4) 3-2 in a hard-fought five-set battle on Thursday.
The Spartans opened strong by taking the first two sets, but the Rainbow Warriors battled back to even the match at 2-2 before SJSU pulled ahead in the decisive fifth set, winning 15-13.
“I feel great. It was an incredible match,” head coach Todd Kress said. “I’m so proud of our team tonight because I think we had some self-doubt after those first three matches.”
The Spartans dropped their first contest in four sets and were swept in the next two, making Thursday the first time this season they pushed a match to five sets.
Despite the win, Hawaii led on nearly every front, posting 64 kills and 60 assists compared to SJSU’s 55 kills and 50 assists.
Hawaii also had 10 aces compared to the Spartans’ six. However, SJSU led Hawaii in blocks, eight to seven.
Spartan freshman outside hitter Morgan Graves led the team with 13 kills, followed by junior middle blocker Ava Hewitt-Smith with nine.
Assists were one-sided for the Spartans, as junior setter Fatimah Hall recorded more than half the team’s assists with 33, while freshman setter Clara Christensen came in second with 11.
“This is the team that I knew we could always be, and I’m talking about the energy, the effort, and the attitude,” Kress said.
SJSU dropped the fourth set by 12 points, giving Hawaii momentum, but Kress and the team secured the win following an error by the home team.
“We win set five…That’s huge; that is a huge confidence builder for this program,” Kress said.
SJSU played the cleaner game overall, committing 20 errors compared to Hawaii’s 22. However, Kress said there is still work to be done.
“Of course we still have some things to clean up, but I saw more energy, attitude, and grit tonight than I saw in the first three matches combined,” Kress said. The Spartans will remain in Honolulu for their game on Friday against St. John’s at 7:45 p.m. at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
