By Jessica Jimenez — Staff Writer
San Jose State beach volleyball opened the 2019 season with two winning matches against University of San Francisco and West Valley College in exhibition on Friday in Saratoga, Calif.
After dropping the first spot to USF, the Spartans clinched the next four positions in two sets to win 4-1.
Freshman Sarah Smevog won her first collegiate match with senior Julia Golbeck.
“This is my first collegiate volleyball game and it just feels so good to be finally out here,” Smevog said. “Once you’re out here it’s a little nerve racking, but once you get the hang of it, you get warmed up and it feels amazing.”
Golbeck felt the chemistry she had with Smevog in today’s matches.
“It felt really good,” Golbeck said. “Together we’re pretty fast and we have high energy. We got a little rush off and played really hard.”
Following the Dons, the Spartans swept West Valley in the exhibition game 5-0.
In the only match to hit three sets, Tabea Schwarz and Caitlin Bettany beat West Valley’s Mapuhola Sekona and Kaylin Henderson, 18-21, 21-16, 16-14.
Overall, head coach Aaron Shepardson was pleased with the results.
“We came ready to play, I’m pleased with the effort,” he said. “We looked pretty sharp and there was definitely some tight moments and there were some times where we were in charge of the match. I think in all the of tight moments, our team really stepped up.”
The Spartans hit the road and play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday at 1 p.m.
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