San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team swept the Air Force Academy 3-0 to claim victory on senior day. This is the second time the Spartans beat the Falcons this season.
The three sets won by the Spartans were by the scores of 25-22, 25-19
and 25-20.
Both teams were constantly going at each other during the first game as both offenses and defenses were present. The Spartans ended up taking the first set 25-22.
In the second set, the Spartans jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first few minutes, but the Falcons fought back late in the second set. The Spartans found themselves in a momentum swing in the last couple of points and would prevail to a six-point victory.
In the third set, SJSU fell behind early, but managed to slowly catch up to the Air Force. The Spartans made sure they closed out the match in the third set 25-20 and claim the straight sets victory.
The Spartans scored 54 points overall while the Air Force scored 46. Sophomore outside hitter Latahevai Lousi recorded the most points for the Spartans with 12 and Falcons junior outside hitter Denise Ssozi had 12.5.
Both senior outside hitter Giulia Gavio and senior libero Luiza Andrade are graduating next year. Andrade plans to take advantage of her communications major, but she still contemplates whether she wants to play volleyball professionally after the semester ends.
Gavio thought the match against the Falcons was exciting, adding that communication and attitude were the main factors for their victory.
“I think it was a really good game. The score was always super tight. They played a really well match,” Gavio said.
Andrade praised the Falcons for understanding the Spartans’ play style, which requires the Spartans to be persistent when going against them.
“Air Force is always a really good team. I love playing against them,” Andrade said. “They’re hard to beat. They scout us really well.”
Head coach Jolene Shepardson was proud of the win and praised the seniors for their performance against the Falcons.
“I felt like they led our team tonight. Giulia had some amazing shots. High hits, the block and really hard balls to defend. Luiza had a spectacular day and really aggressive serves,” Shepardson said.
Shepardson hopes the team will take the momentum it had against Air Force into their next match versus Fresno State and get revenge for an earlier loss in the season against the Bulldogs.
“We gave Fresno heck when they came and played here. It could’ve gone either way and it was a very close match. I think we can go get that to them.”
Shepardson said.
The Spartans are currently 14-11 this season and have only two more games to play. The last two games are on the road and Shepardson wants her team to win
them both.
“I want to take this momentum on the road and get two more wins,” Shepardson said.
