By Felix Petersson (@_felixpetersson ):
San Jose State beach volleyball took care of business and outplayed both the University of Portland and the wind during Monday’s match at West Valley College in a 4-1 win.
SJSU entered the match losing five of its last six in the sand, but gained momentum from the start against the Pilots, even with the wind blowing.
“I really like the energy we came out with today,” said head coach Aaron Shepardson.
SJSU took a 2-0 lead over the Pilots with wins from sophomores Loura Ports and Kaitlynn Zdroik and sophomore Thanliana Grajeda and senior Jamie Hirai.
“I’m very happy with how hard everyone fought out there today, even if the conditions wasn’t the best,” said graduate student Lyndi Scholl.
Scholl was paired with senior Nandyala Gama in the No.1 who won their match in straight sets.
The Spartans also won the last match of the day, and head coach Shepardson was very happy with the teams’ performance.
“We struggled a bit with the wind, which we have to work on,” Shepardson said, “but otherwise I’m I think almost everyone played very well today.”
The No. 1 pair Scholl and Nandyala Gama stepped up to take a comfortable victory in two straight sets, with Gama finished the last set with a couple of big blocks. When the ball hit the sand on the opponent’s side for the last time the score was set to secure the win.
“I love blocking, so scoring the last point with a block felt really good,” Gama said.
Shepardson said that despite losing matches against top schools like Stanford and Tulane the past weekend, it showed that his team can compete on a high level.
The next match will be against the Pacific Tigers on Saturday at 9 a.m.