By Taylor Lupetti (@tayclupetti):
A bittersweet feeling swept across Spartan Gym as the women’s volleyball team fell to Utah State 3-1 and said good-bye to four of their players for senior night.
“We knew this day was coming,” said senior libero Jamie Hirai. “I don’t think we understood how emotional we would be…win or lose, I’m still with the people I love and it was a special day.”
SJSU came out to the court ready to close their regular season with a win and took the first set 25-18. From there, not quite able to execute their game plans, the Spartans (17-12, 9-9 MW) fell to the Aggies (16-14, 8-10 MW) in the final 3 sets of the night (25-21, 25-21, 28-26).
“I’m trying not to focus on that last game,” said senior setter Breann Robinson. “I’m just looking back on the four years and I’m really proud of my team for everything.”
The emotions settled in after the loss but not because of the match. All four seniors — Hirai, Robinson, outside hitter Summer Avery and middle blocker Nandyala Gama — were honored for their four years playing Spartan volleyball. Each athlete was presented with picture frames, endless flowers and candy from everyone around them in celebration.
With her family back home in Brazil, Gama was unable to share her special day with them but thanks to teammate junior libero Luiza Andrade, her mom was able to share a special message with her.
“It’s always good to know the people who you love are proud of you,” Gama said. “My mom said that…you always want your family to be proud of you no matter what.”
Win or lose, reflecting on the past four years with the Spartans gave these players nothing to regret.
“I’m so proud of this program and how far we’ve come,” Avery said. “We’ve never given up on each other and that is the biggest thing on our team.”
This was also head coach Jolene Shepardson’s fourth season coaching at SJSU. The seniors celebrated today have been with Shepardson since the start.
“This is my first class…I love these young women and it’s a tough day in general,” Shepardson said. “Utah State stepped up and really played hard for the win but I’m so proud of our players.”
Gama led the way in her final regular season match with 23 kills and sophomore outside hitter Fernanda Vido added a double-double with 24 kills and 11 digs. This match was the final conference play game of the season for the Spartans.