By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
Beach volleyball’s No. 1 pair, senior Nandyala Gama and graduate student Lyndi Scholl, won both their matches as San Jose State split Saturday’s doubleheader against Santa Clara and University of San Francisco.
The Spartans (8-11) finished both matches 3-2, with one of them ending in their favor.
“There was a lot of inconsistency today,” said head coach Aaron Shepardson. “We had some really good levels of play and we had some matches where we didn’t compete as hard as we needed to.”
In SJSU’s first match against the Broncos (1-8), both teams were tied 2-2. The deciding point came down to No. 1 pair Gama and Scholl.
The duo all-out defeated senior Kirsten Mead and junior Hailey Lindberg 21-16 and 21-9 to clinch the match. With the victory, the Spartans spoiled SCU’s first match on campus in program history.
“I think we did a really good job of staying on top of what our goal was,” Scholl said. “Even if we got down, it wasn’t a thought in our mind that were going to lose.”
The second match of the doubleheader featured the Dons (3-8).
No. 5 pair senior Summer Avery and freshman Ryann Thomison gave SJSU the first point by winning their sets 21-14 and 21-11.
The Dons responded by winning the next three points from the second, third and fourth pairs. Gama and Scholl ended the match winning a point, but it wasn’t enough as the Spartans came out on the losing end, 3-2.
“It was a battle for sure,” Gama said. “We kept battling the negatives parts and we never let that dominate us.”
SJSU heads to Stockton next Saturday with another doubleheader against the Pacific Tigers (6-7) and the Sacramento State Hornets (2-13). First serve is at 9 a.m.
