By Taylor Lupetti (@tayclupetti):
It was a night of comebacks for the San Jose State women’s volleyball team. Going up against University of Nevada, Reno (5-16, 3-6 MW), SJSU (13-7, 5-4 MW) was able to sweep the Wolfpack off its home court.
SJSU was hot when they took the court tonight and finished the first set 25-18. It was a slow second set for the Spartans who were down but came back to end it with a tight 26-24. Determined to sweep, the teams took the court for the final set of the night where they sent UNR home 25-21.
Putting their usual blue and yellow uniforms away for the night, the Spartans took the court in pink shirts to show their support for Breast Cancer.
After being on the road last weekend to take on No. 21 Colorado State and the University of Wyoming, the feeling of home was what the Spartans were missing.
“We’re so grateful to be home two weeks in a row,” said head coach Jolene Shepardson. “We’re going to sleep in our own beds, train well and just do great things.”
The Spartans’ return home was not the only comeback of the night. After being out for some of the biggest games of the season, sophomore outside hitter Fernanda Vido made her return to the floor.
“It feels really good,” Vido said. “My teammates helped me a lot to get back from this injury and made me feel comfortable playing.”
Having Vido back on the court is a force that was missed not only by her teammates, but by her coaches as well.
“She’s a leader and a captain,” Shepardson said. “Just her presence alone just allows everyone to do their role so we’re thankful to have our solid team back.
It was clear Vido was not going to ease herself back to playing when she took the court. Showing how good her recovery has been, she led her team with 11 of the 36 digs in the match.
Eager to welcome the women home were all of the usual crowds from several teams in the SJSU Athletics Department, a support that provides a lot of motivation while playing.
“It just shows how strong our community here is,” Vido said. “Its really cool to have them here, cheering, making some noise and intimidating the other team.”
Throughout the game, the team collected money to donate for to breast cancer as well and had encouraged their supporters to wear pink earlier in the day.
“It means a lot (to support),” Shepardson said. “We have some key people in our volleyball community that we are going to donate money from our concession stands tonight which just means a lot to us.”
The Spartans are going to continue down their road to redemption on Thursday when they return to Spartan Gym to play Air Force at 6 p.m.