By Hugo Vera – Staff Writer
The San José State women’s volleyball team (7-9, 2-5 MW) chased out the University of Nevada Wolf Pack (8-10, 1-6 MW) 3-1 in a key Mountain West matchup on Tuesday night.
Nevada outside hitter Kayla Afoa scored early in the first set until the Spartans contested the play with a “hand on ball” challenge.
The point was then overturned and the Spartans yielded six unanswered points with long range spikes from middle blocker Thaliana Grajeda and libero Luiza Andrade.
The Wolf Pack responded in turn as defensive specialist Mo Maluotoga and OH Jamila Minor scored, but the Spartans held on to win the first set 25-22.
The second yielded an initial tie when SJSU OH Fernanda Vido delivered a series of serves that repeatedly sent Wolf Pack setter Kaila Spevak and OH Sam Hayward scrambling for floor coverage.
Vido’s offensive prowess propelled the Spartans to a substantial lead midway through the set to produce a final set score of 25-17.
Nevada then rallied in the third set with a series of short range spikes that allowed for a Wolf Pack lead. Hayward’s efforts to block and pressure Spartan setter Kaitlynn Zdroik persisted until the Wolf Pack won the third set 25-21.
Despite wearing a compression-sling around her right shoulder, Vido continued to act as the primary Spartan server for most of the fourth set. Along with setter Mamie Garard, Vido contributed over 30 sets played and shot multiple spikes over the head of Nevada setter McKayla Wuensch.
Spartan middle blocker Haylee Nelson emboldened the team’s offensive swinging in addition to guarding Nevada’s Shiloh Peleras.
A visibly exhausted Nevada team then continued to drive serves into their own net and to make other critical errors that resulted in the Spartans taking the final set 25-21.
“It was hard losing a [third] set that we obviously were supposed to win but we played with more power until the very end. We play with the same heart every night and we play each set and each match as it it’s the last one,” senior offensive hitter Giulia Gavio said.
The close third-set loss was a general topic of discussion among the team during the postgame interviews.
“We just had to keep playing with straight heads and to keep swinging. We had to cover [the ground] from the bottom of the block and in these situations you just swing wide and keep going,” Grajeda said.
The win puts the Spartans at 2-5 in the MW standings ahead of matchups with eight other conference teams including volleyball powerhouses UNLV and Air Force.
“We have to always come into this gym ready to play better and not be afraid to make really big swings,” head coach Jolene Shepardson said. “I’m proud of out setters for getting aggressive, especially [Gavio] and Nelson for getting those really big bombs out. The Mountain West is still up for grabs.”
For its next match, SJSU heads on the road for a matchup against the Air Force Falcons (12-7, 2-3 MW) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
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