By Taylor Lupetti
San Jose State women’s volleyball returned to the floor and dropped both season-opening matches against South Florida University and Stony Brook University 3-1 and 3-0, respectively.
After finishing fifth in the Mountain West last season, the Spartans began their 2018 fall season in South Florida at the USF Invitational.
It’s been 23 years since SJSU has played USF. For Spartans’ head coach Jolene Shepardson, the trip to the Sunshine State brought her back to her alma mater, USF.
SJSU fell 3-1 to the Bulls despite winning the second set 25-17.
Senior libero Luiza Andrade led her team in aces with three and digs with 12.
Freshman setter Mamie Garard finished her first match as a Spartan with 24 assists.
Redshirt junior outside hitter Fernanda Vido had 12 kills at the end of the season-opener.
The Spartans ended their second match of the day with a 3-0 shutout against the Seawolves. SJSU put up a fight with 25-21, 25-20 and 26-24 sets.
Freshman middle blocker Haylee Nelson came on top in kills in the match with 11.
Garard led her team with 28 assists, while tallying eight digs. She also tied Nelson for the most blocks at five.
Andrade led her pack in digs once again with 14. She was named to the Mountain West Preseason team earlier this week, and is one of eight players to reach 1,000 digs in Spartan history.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Latahevai Lousi was second behind Nelson in kills with six.
Outside hitters Vido and Caitlin Bettenay and middle blocker Laura Parts each finished the match with five kills.
The Spartans will end their time at the USF Invitational with a match against Jacksonville University tomorrow at 8 a.m.
Follow Taylor on Twitter @tayclupetti
