By Taylor Lupetti (@tayclupetti):
It has been a month of successes for junior libero Luiza Andrade.
After being named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Month at the beginning of October, Andrade broke a career record and became one of just eight Spartans to reach 1,000 digs in her career.
The record was accredited to Andrade only, but she gives props to her teammates as well. Not taking the credit for herself demonstrates the selfless ways that are seen with the volleyball team consistently.
“It feels great but I’m just doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” Andrade said. “I always joke with my blockers that they just make my job way easier.”
While the accomplishment was a big one, it was not something Andrade was aiming for or even expecting. As it is with the rest of the players, the team as a whole comes first.
“It’s exciting, but it’s not really my main focus,” Andrade said. “I want to see San Jose State be champions of the conference. That’s the biggest dream I have and the thing I am most hopeful for.”
Andrade came to the team from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a freshman in 2015 and is one of five Brazilians on the team.
Of her four teammates from Brazil, junior outside hitter Giulia Gavio and sophomore outside hitter Fernanda Vido have playing history with Andrade. The last time the trio played on the same team together, the results were tremendous. The long-time friends are hoping to bring the same heat to San Jose State this season.
“Lu (Andrade), me and Giu (Gavio) have great history together,” Vido said. “We won a state championship together back in Brazil, so I always joke that we are going to do great things here just like we did a few years ago.”
In addition to shining on the court, Andrade’s personality off the court is radiant to her teammates and to head coach Jolene Shepardson, who trusts her to lead the team.
“She’s starting to become more of a leader on the court,” Shepardson said. “She is starting to assume more of a captain, stabilizing the team and making sure we are taking care of our responsibilities.”
As one of four juniors on the mature team, Andrade has another year to show what she’s made of. Andrade may not have plans to break any other records, but her coach sees her last year as potential for her to do bigger things beyond what she has already achieved.
“She’s a talented player and she’s only a junior,” Shepardson said. “We have a whole other year for her to possibly break some more records.”
As the season continues, Andrade is determined to see the season end for her team differently than it did last year, a task that she is confident is attainable for the Spartans.
“We are going to get there,” Andrade said. “We are going to keep playing hard and staying together and persevering.”
With about a month left of regular season play left, it can be expected that Andrade will continue to help carry her team to the best of her abilities and show other schools what she and the Spartans are capable of.