The San José State University women’s volleyball team lost its season opener 3-1 against University of California, Santa Barbara at Spartan Gym in a non-conference match.
The Spartans started off the game solid, narrowly taking the first set 25-23 with a kill from junior rightside hitter Lolo Fonua.
However, the Gauchos asserted their dominance in the following sets, winning the second set 25-18 with a kill from UCSB’s outside hitter Eva Travis.
SJSU struggled to stay afloat the third set, losing 25-11 with a kill by UCSB’s outside hitter, Gabi Martinez.
Team coach of three years, Todd Kress, relayed his thoughts on the third set in particular.
“Third set, very shaky, kinda lost our head, kinda lost our way a little bit,” Kress said.
The fourth set was evenly matched, with tensions high and both teams giving their best efforts. The set was ultimately taken by the Gauchos 26-24 with a kill from UCSB’s outside hitter, Ema Petkovic.
Kress expressed his thoughts on the team’s inconsistent performance throughout the match.
“Sets one, two, and four I thought we did quality things, gave ourselves opportunities to win but just couldn’t do enough on the blocking standpoint and also just some defensive positioning things we had to clean up.” Kress said.
The Gauchos finished with 131 attacks, 62 kills, 55 digs, and 11.5 blocks, along with 25 unforced errors in the match.
The Spartans made 20 unforced errors throughout the game and claimed 118 attacks, 38 kills, 39 digs, and six blocks.
Kress stressed the fact that action needs to be taken on the block in order to create a more cohesive defense.
“We need to do a much better job on not only lining up the block, but just some of our block touches, getting quality block touches,” Kress said.
Though the Spartans ultimately fell to the Gauchos, the team came out of the game with some notable stats.
Nine Spartans recorded at least one kill, with outside hitter Morgan Graves scoring seven kills, second to Founa.
Middle blockers Ava Hewitt-Smith, Learden Lee, Alyssa Bjork, and rightside hitter Mariana Buchanan all recorded four kills each.
Kress spoke on what he thought were some of the positive aspects of the game.
“Highlights was the fact that we had sixteen of our eighteen people eligible to play that actually got on the court and played,” Kress said. “We had a lot of freshmen that got out there and had their first experience playing collegiate volleyball, so, I think that’s huge to get them that experience before we get them into conference play.”
Furthermore, setter Fatimah Hall scored 22 assists, six digs, and three service aces.
Libero Nazare Judd recorded six digs as well, while outside hitter Sariah Johnson and Founa both made five digs.
Kress also spoke on some of the goals and plans he has for the team this season.
“Putting team over yourself is huge, I think you have to make a lot of sacrifices to have team cohesion and team unity,” Kress said.
The Spartans are scheduled to play in Outriggers Invitational today, against Utah Valley, University Hawai’i at Mānoa and St. John’s University at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.
