Boise State swept the San Jose State volleyball team Thursday night despite putting up a strong finish in the final two sets.
The Spartans (8-15 overall and 3-9 conference) had come into the match hoping to break a two-game losing streak on the road while the Broncos (15-8 overall and 7-5 conference) had their sights on three straight wins.
The first set was a disaster for the Spartans as they dropped the it 25-14, to the Broncos.
Boise State played with a high amount of energy and agility throughout the night while SJSU’s sluggish play in the first set made it difficult to keep up.
“[The Broncos] are always a talented team,” head coach Jolene Shepardson said. “But when we forced them at their place, we were up a lot of sets so I thought it would be a good match and we honestly didn’t show up tonight. It’s frustrating.”
Shepardson said that the offense was putting itself in tough situations with sloppy play and a lack of focus that made it hard for the team to mount a comeback later on in the match.
“When we [see the game plan clearly] we are very hard to defend,” Shepardson said. “But sometimes we are not seeing things clearly. Offensively that puts ourselves in tight situations that we can’t pull ourselves out of.”
The next two sets both finished with a score of 25-22 in Boise State’s favor.
The Spartans looked rejuvenated on offense, performing at a far faster pace and challenged the Broncos on defense with spectacular digs on the court.
“We were a bit more stable with our energy,” senior middle blocker Caitlin Bettenay said. “The last game was a bit of a rollercoaster.”
Sophomore middle blocker Haylee Nelson led the power surge hitting .375 with eight kills Thursday.
Nelson’s performance Thursday and Saturday against Utah State earned her the Mountain West Offensive Player of
the week.
However, despite the Spartans’ faster tempo and Nelsons stellar play, they were unable to pull themselves out of the hole caused by a tough first set.
“In a three-point game like that it’s all about who wants it more and from the beginning we let ourselves get into a rut too much,” redshirt senior outside hitter Latahevai Lousi said.
Lousi said that the key for the Spartans to have success in the future is to focus on keeping their heads up and not letting one bad set break their momentum for the remainder of the match.
“When we can [keep up our energy] we can keep the other team on their heels even when they’re up because we are keeping our heads high and battling it out until it’s over,” Lousi said.
The Spartans continued their homestand sweeping Utah State 3-0 Saturday and will play the University of Nevada today.
