By Stevie Corio— Staff Writer
The Spartans lost in three on Thursday at home against Boise State.
In the first set, the Spartans (7-15) struggled to stay in the game with the Broncos. The Broncos (15-7) went on multiple serving runs and protected their possession of the ball.
It was as if the Broncos were feeding the Spartans the ball and letting them make mistakes, ultimately dropping the first set 25-14.
Going into the second set, the Spartans brought a much more intense energy to the court allowing them to maintain more rallies with the Broncos.
While the Spartans only obtained a few big kills throughout the game, the scrappy defense and back-row consistency is what kept them in the game.
“We showed some aggressive serving and fought with some of our blocking strategy behind it,” said head coach Jolene Shepardson. “I think we were just executing the game plan a little bit in those sets to make it competitive.”
Defensively, the two teams were almost equal. The Broncos led by only two digs, with a total of 41 while the Spartans finished with 39.
The Spartans made game-changing offensive moves in the second and third sets. Leading in kills was Latahevai Lousi with nine and Makayla Lewis shortly behind with seven.
“We started hitting a lot different, opening up our options and spreading the ball around a little bit better,” said outside hitter Caitlin Bettenay.
In the last two matches the Spartans broke down their game to the fundamentals. They came up on more side outs and were able to regain possession, maintaining consistency in the areas that they can control, like serving and defense.
“We have to find the energy within ourselves on the court and bring it out more, and expose that and celebrate that,” outside hitter Lousi said. “Going back into practice tomorrow we need to just do what we need to focus on— game plan and execution.”
SJSU plays its next game on Saturday, Nov. 2 at home against Utah State.
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