By Sandeep Chandok (@sandeepchandok):
Poor San Diego State. It had a 1-0 lead, a 2-1 lead, and it still couldn’t take down Norcal rival San Jose State on Thursday night.
It was a 3-2 triumph for the Spartans (10-4, 2-1 MW) which twice rallied to even the match versus the Aztecs (6-10, 0-3 MW), ultimately forcing a pivotal tiebreaker.
After splitting the first two sets, SDSU and SJSU grinded through a decisive third set in which the Aztecs lead 23-20 before the Spartans sparked a 5-2 run to knot things up.
San Diego State then rattled off a 4-2 spurt capped by a big-time block by Baylee Little, winning the set 29-27 and taking a 2-1 lead.
SJSU then smashed the Aztecs in the fourth set, 25-16, behind 10 combined kills from Giulia Gavio and Nandyala Gama.
The match-deciding set came down to the wire as a 15-15 draw was in place after the Spartans bit off a 5-2 rally when trailing 13-10.
A service error by SDSU turned the ball over to San Jose State, leading to a kill from Gama set up by Breann Robinson, sealing the match and come-from-behind victory for the Spartans.
The senior Robinson finished the match with a whopping 46 assists, inching closer to the 2,000 assist mark as she now stands at 1,969, according to SJSU Athletics.
Junior libero Luiza Andrade racked up 20 digs for SJSU’s defense, and four Spartans put up double-digit kills with Gavio’s 19 leading the way.
If Robinson can continue to spread the wealth among the Spartan hitters, opposing teams will struggle to defeat this surging San Jose State squad.
Next on the schedule for SJSU is another rival in Fresno State. The ball goes up at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Fresno.