San Jose State Athletics had a rather successful fall season, as four sports made it exceptionally far in their conferences – establishing several record-breaking moments and obtaining several trophies for the shelves.
Those four sports include women’s soccer, volleyball, football and men’s soccer.
Women’s soccer goes to big dance
The SJSU women’s soccer team finished its first year under the tutelage of head coach Tina Estrada on a strong note as it completed its season with a 8-7-7 overall record while going 6-3-2 in conference play.
The Spartans were named the MWC regular season champions in a three-way tie with Wyoming and New Mexico.
As the No. 3 seed of the MWC Tournament, the team defeated No. 6 Colorado College 1-0 in the quarter finals, No. 2 New Mexico 0-0, 4-2 in penalty kicks and No. 1 Wyoming 0-0, 6-5 in penalty kicks to claim its third MWC Tournament title in program history.
The tournament win guaranteed the Spartans a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament bid, in which they faced Stanford in the first round that resulted in a 6-0 loss against their Bay Area rival.
Senior defender Jada Wilson was named the MWC Defensive Player of the Year, All-MWC First Team and to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I All-Pacific Team. Her efforts contributed to the Spartans' six shutouts.
Freshman goalkeeper Bente Pernot was named MWC Newcomer of the Year and made the MWC Second Team. She was named the MWC Freshman of the Week twice, and in five games, registered four or more saves.
Alongside Pernot, sophomore forward Bella Flocchini and senior midfielder Sabrina Weinman made the second team.
Flocchini led the Spartans’ offense with 11 shots on goals while Weinman contributed to the offense with 32 shots.
Additionally, freshman midfielder Tatiana Cunningham was named to the All-MWC Newcomer Team as she contributed to 6 shutouts and 2 assists.
Volleyball posts best season in 20 years
The SJSU volleyball team finished its season with a 21-9 overall record, going 14-4 in conference play.
It is the Spartans’ first more-than-20-win season in more than 20 years.
At one point of the regular season, the Spartans went on a nine-game winning streak, in which it defended its newly-designed, black-exterior court with a dominant 9-1 home stance.
The Spartans finished second in conference and earned a first-round bye in the MWC Tournament.
SJSU defeated San Diego State in the semi-finals and advanced to its first MWC Tournament championship in program history.
In the championship game, the Spartans fell to Utah State.
Four Spartans were given All-MWC Team honors: Senior outside hitter Amethyst Harper, junior setter Mia Schafer, senior libero Sarah Smevog and senior outside hitter Haylee Nelson.
Nelson and Smevog finish off their careers with their names in the record books.
Nelson finished 5th place in school history in kills and kill attempts, while Smevog finishes second in digs in school history and ninth in MWC history.
Football team is going bowling
The San Jose State football team finished the season with a 7-4 overall record while going 5-3 in conference play. The Spartans defended home turf, staying undefeated with a 6-0 record at CEFCU Stadium.
The Mountain West Conference (MWC) announced Tuesday that 10 Spartans would be awarded All-Mountain West football honors.
Leading the Spartans’ defense is Viliami Fehoko, who was named the MWC Defensive Player of the Year.
Fehoko joins defensive lineman Cade Hall, who won Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, as the second Spartan to be given the award in the past three seasons.
Fehoko is currently tied for eighth in the nation with a career-high of 10 sacks.
Joining Fehoko in the All-Conference MWC First Team is Hall, wide receiver Elijah Cooks and linebacker Kyle Harmon.
This is Cooks’ first All-MWC First-Team selection. He finished with career highs in receiving yards and touchdown receptions with 983 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions.
Cooks’s 10 touchdown receptions is the most by an SJSU receiver since Chandler Jones, who had 15 touchdowns in 2013. Cooks currently ranks 11th in the nation in touchdown receptions.
Additionally, this is Harmon’s third All-MWC First-Team selection as he was awarded in every season since 2020. He leads the team with 94 tackles.
Junior quarterback Chevan Cordeiro was named to the All-MWC Second Team. Cordeiro finished the regular season throwing a career high of 2,885 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Five Spartans were named to the All-MWC Honorable-Mention Team. Wide receiver Justin Lockhart, tight end Dominick Mazotti, defensive backs Chase Williams and Nehemiah Shelton and safety Tre Jenkins received those awards.
The Spartans are awaiting a bowl game appearance that will be their second in three years.
Head coach Brent Brennan is finishing his sixth season for the Spartans with a winning record.
Men’s soccer exceeds expectations
Coming off a disappointing loss in the 2021 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament, the SJSU men’s soccer team bounced back, going 10-5-4 in the regular season while going 5-2-2 in WAC play.
The Spartans qualified for the WAC Tournament in Riverside, where they defeated No. 3 Seattle University in the semifinals and fell to No. 5 California Baptist University in the championship during PKs.
Seven Spartans were honored with All-WAC awards.
Sophomore midfielder Beau Leroux and graduate student midfielder Finlay Wood were named to the All-WAC First Team.
Leroux led the conference with 54 shots. Wood, a team captain, started in 16 matches with 1 goal and 3 assists.
Defender Eduardo Miranda, senior defender Kasper Poulsgaard and senior goalkeeper David Sweeney earned second-team honors.
Miranda played all 90 minutes in eight conference games. His play helped the Spartans pitch a conference high of six shutouts. Poulsgaard was the iron man for SJSU, playing all 90 minutes in 16 games.
Sweeney led the WAC with a .742 save percentage. The senior goalkeeper played in 17 games, recording 90 minutes in every game.
Freshman midfielder Gaku Nishimura and forward Riccardo Scarafia were named to the All-freshman Team.
Nishimura started in 13 games of the 15 in which he participated. Scarafia started in 12 games of the 15 he played while recording 1 goal and 2 assists.
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Brandon Twomey contributed to this article.
