The San Jose State volleyball team broke its losing streak by winning 3-2 against Air Force Academy in a nail-biting match Saturday night in Colorado.
The victory was the first five set match the Spartans (1-3 MWC) have played this season.
The Spartans were on a roll with outside hitter Latahevai Lousi landing 17 kills, outside hitter Makayla Lewis had 10 kills, middle blocker Haylee Nelson had 9 and middle blocker Allyson Alden had 8.
Lousi and Nelson contributed 3 and 2 aces, respectively.
The Spartans started off Set 1 neck-and-neck with the Falcons (2-2 MWC).
The Falcons lost control of the ball after an overpass by Nelson and a 5-point run began for the Spartans.
The Falcons called a timeout and stopped the Spartans’ momentum.
SJSU recovered, scoring a 4-point run which would soon become a 5-point run after Air Force called another timeout.
SJSU errors gave points to Air Force, but ultimately errors by Air Force and kills by outside hitter Whitney Barnes and Alden guaranteed SJSU to win the first set 25-19.
Set 2 started off on a rocky note for the Spartans.
A serve that was too wide granted the Falcons a point which began a 4-point run.
It was hard for the Spartans to recover with the Falcons, having runs of 3 to 4 points only being disrupted by single points awarded to the Spartans.
Though SJSU attempted to remedy the point deficit it was experiencing, the difference in points was too much to recover from and Air Force took Set 2 10-25.
SJSU had a strong start in Set 3, beginning a 3-point roll with a kill from Lewis and Lousi.
Though the Spartans gained points, the Falcons followed close behind.
Eventually, Air Force was able to gain the upperhand during the set. In a dramatic attempt to save the set, Nelson jumped over a coach into the bench, but the ball had already touched
the ground.
The Spartans lost Set 3 20-25.
The Falcons initially held the lead during Set 4, but the Spartans were persistent.
Throughout the first half of the set, the Falcons were leading 5-3.
Barnes pushed the Spartans closer to the Falcons with a kill, tying the game 16-16.
A 3-point run granted the Spartans a 2-point lead. Middle blocker Ryann Thomison was able to secure the win with a final kill.
Set 5 was intense when the Spartans held the lead for 2 points before being overtaken by the Falcons.
Air Force was closely followed by SJSU throughout the game, but after another timeout called by SJSU head coach Trent Kersten, the lead was cut to 2 points.
In an attempt to bring the Falcons back together, the team called a timeout.
After Air Force hit the ball out of line, SJSU held a 5-point run.
Nelson secured the game with a kill, ending the set 16-14 and giving the Spartans the 3-2 win.
SJSU is scheduled to face off against Fresno State on Thursday in Fresno.
The San Jose State volleyball team lost 3-1 in a difficult match against Air Force Academy Friday night in Colorado.
The Spartans were looking to break their three match losing streak, but ultimately the team was overtaken by the Falcons.
Outside hitter Latahevai Lousi was the attack leader of the night, securing 42 attack points for SJSU.
Air Force led at the beginning of Set 1, but Lousi disrupted the Falcons lead by setting up a 3-point run with a kill leaving the score 6-4 in favor of SJSU.
Although the team struggled at first, the Falcons attempted to wrestle the lead back from the Spartans.
SJSU continued to hit at 47% and maintained a thin lead throughout the first set.
An attack by middle blocker Haylee Nelson was blocked, which began a 4-point run for the Falcons. Nelson led the Spartans in digs with 16 in Friday’s match.
SJSU head coach Trent Kersten remedied the situation by calling a timeout, which worked in the Spartans’ favor as the Falcons committed a service error immediately following
the timeout.
But the Falcons started another 4-point run which forced Kersten to call yet another timeout while the Spartans were losing 15-20.
The Spartans were never able to fully recover and the Falcons won Set 1, 25-19.
Despite losing Set 1, SJSU started off Set 2 strong after winning an intense joust.
SJSU held a 4-point run fueled by service and attack errors from Air Force, as well as a service ace by Lousi.
The Falcons were forced to call a timeout after an impressive backrow attack by the Spartans.
This allowed Air Force to land a kill, changing the score to 12-9.
Though the set was close, SJSU was able to maintain a lead for a substantial amount of the set.
After some mistakes by the Spartans and strong plays from the Falcons, the Spartans lost the lead and called a timeout, leaving the score 20-21.
The Spartans called another timeout and gained another point because of a Falcon service error, but the Falcons ultimately won Set 2, 21-25.
The Spartans dominated Set 3, starting off strong and holding a 9-point run in the beginning.
A 7-point run from the Falcons tightened the game, but the Spartans were able to win their first set of the night 25-22.
In what was essentially a flipped version of the third set, the Falcons started Set 4 with a slow-growing lead.
The Spartans called their first timeout of the set after a 3-point run from the Falcons, but even after the timeout the Falcons continued the run until a player made a service error.
The Spartans tried their best to overcome the Falcons by the end of the set, but ultimately the Spartans lost 25-20. The Spartans had 14 service errors by the end of night and a
40.7% scoring average.
