By Taylor Lupetti & Marissa Scott — Assistant Executive and Content Editors
The San Jose State volleyball (14-11) team brought out its brooms on senior day when it took down Air Force (14-15) in three sets.
“I was very proud of them because they stayed focused,” said head coach Jolene Shepardson. “You can tell our team is extremely close and they’re gonna support their seniors and fight to win.”
Luiza Andrade, Giulia Gavio and Mariana Mantellato were the seniors honored at the match. All three seniors came from Brazil in 2015, Andrade and Gavio from Rio de Janiero and Mantellato from Sao Paolo.
It was a tearful celebration for the three players that have played together for the last four seasons.
“We wanted to make sure we played with our whole hearts and leave everything we had on the court,” Gavio said. “It was our last opportunity to play together in this environment and we just wanted to put our hearts on the court.”
The energy and emotion from the senior commemorations carried over to the floor where the Spartans brought the heat.
SJSU took the lead from the start and were a force to be reckoned with in each set. The Spartans claimed each set: 25-22, 25-19 and 25-210, respectively.
Latahevai Lousi and Gavio led the Spartans with 11 kills each. Andrade came ahead with 20 digs and Kaitlynn Zdroik had 17 assists for the day.
“Air Force is always a really good team,” Andrade said. “We had to be consistent and have our energy high and it was really good.”
It was the last home game in the Spartan Gym, but the team isn’t done yet. The Spartans have two more matches on the road to conclude their season.
SJSU will take on the Fresno State Bulldogs on Thursday.
Follow Taylor and Marissa on Twitter @tayclupetti @marissascotttt