By Lindsey Boyd:
For the first time in San Jose State beach volleyball history, the Spartans took down the Santa Clara Broncos, 4-1.
“That really speaks to not just the performance today, but really the consistency that we’ve had,” said head coach Aaron Shepardson.
The young program has been building itself up. Beating a local rival such as Santa Clara (1-10) makes the development even more enjoyable — for the players who’ve been on the team since the beginning three years ago.
Founding player Summer Avery felt the match was a testament to how far the beach volleyball program has come.
“Today showed how much we are really growing,” Avery said. “This game is part of our life … it’s a big part of our life and I think we all give it our best effort.”
The No. 4 pair, consisting of Avery and Jamie Hirai, and No. 3 duo, Giulia Gavio and Luiza Andrade, swept their opponents in two straight sets. For the rest of the team, three dragged out sets were needed to seal the win.
The No. 1 and No. 5 teams each let a set slip away from them, but were able to comeback and win in a decisive third set.
The No. 1 match was the true definition of an evenly played game. Lyndi Scholl and partner Allison Meehan lost 18-21 in the first set, but won 21-19 in the second, sending them into a tiebreaker third set. The back and forth race to 15 was on and the rally ended in a close 16-14 win for SJSU.
“We figured out what person to go for,” Scholl said. “So I think once we figured that out it was more executing it and not letting up on what our jobs are.”
Scholl claimed that the Spartan’s biggest advantage over the Broncos came from her teammates’ loud support from the sidelines.
“When we are off the court we are always talking and cheering for each other,” Scholl said. “Just having that love and support behind you just makes you want to win that much more. To do it for them not just yourself.”
The team will head to Folsom on Saturday to play their last two games of the season against Cal Poly at 10 a.m. and Sacramento State at 1 p.m.