No. 2 Seed San José State (21-8, 14-4 MW) eliminated No. 6 seed San Diego State (11-20, 8-10 MW) in four sets (25-17, 17-25, 25-19, 27-25) to advance to the 2022 Mountain West Volleyball Championship title match.
The Spartans will compete for the MW tournament crown for the first time in program history. Due to not contesting the tournament from 2012-2020, the No. 2 seed is the highest seed to advance to the championship round since 2011.
Senior outside hitter Haylee Nelson led the way with a team-high 11 kills for the Spartans. Sophomore Blaire Fleming followed close behind with 10 of her own. Senior Amethyst Harper and setter Carly Aigner-Swesey had a match-high three service aces in the win. Middle blocker Yazmin Pitpit had a match-high five total blocks.
The Spartans were outhit by a narrow margin .227 to .226 in a match that included six lead changes and 16 ties.
San Diego State saw most of its offense come from senior Kayla Rivera, who tallied 12 kills and two total blocks for a match-high 14 points. Heipua Tautua‘a had a match-high three solo blocks in the loss. Five different Aztecs had a service ace to bring the team’s total to five.
NEXT UP FOR THE SPARTANS: The 2-seeded Spartans will take on the No. 4 seed Utah State Aggies in the 2022 Mountain West Volleyball Championship match Friday, Nov. 25, at 6:30 p.m. MT, at Moby Arena in Fort Collins.
Original source can be found here.
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