By Katie Hoedt – Staff Writer
In the team’s two matches during homecoming week, San Jose State women’s volleyball lost to Utah State 3-2 and swept Boise State 3-0.
After taking a 2-0 lead, the Spartans (6-7, 1-3 MW) struggled to shut down the Aggies (3-12, 1-3 MW) Thursday night. However, fans saw a revitalized team on the court as SJSU took down the Broncos (10-5 2-2 MW) for the first time in 10 years.
On Thursday, the first two sets seemed to show the true ferocity that the Spartans had. However, with the scores of 25-19 in both the first and second set, the Spartans let their confidence get the best of them and dropped the third set in a nail-biting score of 20-25.
“We started to hit low and got a little greedy there in the third set. We thought we saw openings so we started to draw the ball low with our attacks and that didn’t work,” head coach Jolene Shepardson said. “We need to stay high and hard, and do things that we have trained and stay aggressive with those big attacks.”
The Aggies stayed alive and gained all the momentum from the Spartans by taking the fourth set 25-16.
“For me, I think the highlight of the whole game was the fourth set when the serve really challenged us” sophomore outside hitter Latahevai Lousi said. “That challenge really changed our momentum and made us focus in going into the final set.”
The fifth set was a real change in energy because the Spartans were able to adapt to Aggies’ serves. However, SJSU was sent scrambling in the intensity, leading USU’s victory 15-12.
After missing seven matches due to injury, Lousi led the team with 22 kills, followed by junior outside hitter Caitlin Bettany with 14 kills.
On Saturday, SJSU showed its ability to take down a big volleyball programs such as Boise State by defeating them in only three sets.
This was a truly remarkable game for the Spartans because they were able to dominate a team that they struggled to defeat for 10 years straight.
“We decided to block their biggest hitter, so I think that really took her out of the game which allowed our other defenders to pick on the weaker hitters,” Bettany said. “We did a good job in our blocking game and executing that game plan.”
In the third set, the Spartans and Broncos battled it out by alternating points and kept the game close. The back and forth of the game added to its intensity, but it came to an end when a back-row attack by junior outside hitter Fernanda Vido resulted in a kill, giving the Spartans a well-deserved win of 25-23.
Bettany led the team with 9 kills and Lousi followed with 8 kills during the game.
“We had a good game plan,” Shepardson said. “I feel like our team did a good job executing that and they stayed together under pressure. That’s a huge growth for us and I wanna build off that for next weekend.”
The Spartans head to Las Vegas to take on the UNLV Rebels (11-5, 2-2 MW) on Thursday.
Follow Katie on Twitter @kkathoedt