Fresno State Athletics
Bulldog Volleyball Closes Out Season at Sacramento State
11/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 22, 1999
FRESNO, Calif. - 'Dogs Conclude Regular Season on the Road-- The 1999 Western Athletic Conference season has drawn to a close but the regular-season remains open with a final match at Sacramento State on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Fresno State will take a four-match win streak into Sacramento tomorrow night. The Bulldogs have won the last four straight over the Hornets and seven of the last eight. Sacramento State, which captured the Big West Conference title and hosted the 1999 Big West Tournament this past weekend, last defeated the Bulldogs on Oct. 20, 1995 in Fresno.
Second Half Surge-- Fresno State was more than happy to put its non-conference schedule behind them when October rolled around. The Bulldogs compiled a 6-7 worksheet in the month of September with one invitational win. Fresno State has turned itself around in October and November with a 10-4 worksheet. The Bulldogs are winners in 10 of their last 12. Fresno State is 14-6 in its last 20 and 15-7 in its last 22.
10: The Magic Number-- For the fourth time under head coach Lindy Vivas the Bulldogs have recorded at least 10 conference wins. The Bulldogs wrapped up third place in the Western Athletic Conference with a 10-4 record. Fresno State swept through league play except for two losses a piece to No. 3 Hawai'i and San Jose State. Fresno State closes out the 1999 WAC season with four consecutive wins while winning 10 of the last 12. The most conference wins posted by the Bulldog volleyball program is 11 (1984, 1992, 1997) and Vivas has guided the 'Dogs to two 11-win conference seasons.
Closs Makes Comeback-- After missing the last 12 matches due to a stress fracture and a bout with the flu, freshman middle blocker Lindsay Closs (Spokane, Wash.) had not played since Oct. 3. However, Closs competed in her first Western Athletic Conference match on the season last weekend at home against SMU and TCU. With 10 -plus kills in seven matches and posting at least one total block in 14 of the 15 matches played, Closs has collected 126 kills (2.57 kgp), 18 aces, 82 digs (1.67 dpg) and 51 total blocks (1.04 bpg).
Head Coach Lindy Vivas-- Head coach Lindy Vivas (UCLA '80) is in her ninth season at the helm of Bulldog volleyball. Guiding the program to its third NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998, Vivas has been a two-time WAC Coach of the Year honoree. With five postseason appearances in the last eight years, the Bulldogs have made two NCAA Tournament showings (1991-98) and three NIVC appearances (1995-94-92) under Vivas. Averaging 20 wins a year with a 78-36 (.684) home court record, Vivas has coached three all-region and 12 All-WAC picks. Vivas, who led the Bulldogs to three straight WAC Volleyball Tournaments (1996-98), owns a 13-year career record of 249-172 (.591) and a nine-year Fresno State record of 177-112 (.612).
NCAA Tournament Announcement-- The 1999 NCAA Division 1 Women's Volleyball 64-Team Selection Show will take place on Sunday, Nov. 28, 10:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Pacific. The thirty-minute selection show can be viewed live on television with the use of a DSS dish such as DirecTV or Dish Network. Sunshine Network (DirecTV 632/Dish Network 422) and Empire Sports (DirecTV626/Dish Newtwork 432) will air the show live. The show may also be viewed with the use of a C-Band downlink "moveable" satellite dish. The satellite coordinates are Galaxy 6, Transponder 9. Galaxy 6 is located at 99 degrees west on the satellite orbital chart. The downlink frequency is 3880 MHz (H). The audio will be sent 6.2/6.8 mixed program. This announcement will be the only way teams will be notified that they have been selected for the championship.
The Turn-A-Round-- After opening the season with a 1-4 record, Fresno State broke out of its early slump by winning five of its next seven. Fresno State picked up an invitational title at the 1999 USF/Golden Gate Classic with a trio of wins and then went on the road for a non-conference victory over San Diego State. The 'Dogs had strung together four straight wins. The Bulldogs then dropped their next four for their longest drought on the year. Fresno State bounced back by winning five consecutive matches for their longest win streak on the season.
WAC Play In Review: Week 8 vs. SMU & TCU-- Fresno State concluded its WAC season at home with a pair of three-game sweeps over SMU and TCU ... With the wins, Fresno State solidified third place in the league standings with a 10-4 mark ... The ten wins mark the third time under Vivas that the Bulldogs have posted at least ten conference victories (the school record for league wins are 11 in 1984, 1992 and 1997) ... Fresno State improved upon its fourth place finish last year after collecting a 7-7 worksheet ... In the wins over SMU and TCU, the Bulldogs were led by senior outside hitter Anamie Buckelew (Gresham, Ore.) ... Buckelew recorded a pair of double-figure kills (18 versus SMU and 19 against TCU) and averaged 6.17 kills per game ... With 14 consecutive double-figure kill matches, Buckelew has been the Bulldogs top kill leader in the last 14 straight matches ... In the last 14, she is hitting .269 (260-95-613) for an average of nearly 19 kills a match (18.57) ... Junior outside hitter Malia Malu (Torrance) hit a career-high .591 (14-1-22) while posting the only double-double on the evening against the Mustangs ... She has notched five double-figure kill matches in her last nine with 28 assists, 15 aces, 18 blocks and 110 digs ... Only two Bulldogs have played in all 94 games this season: Buckelew and junior defensive specialist Leilua Satele (Long Beach State).
Sacramento State (20-8): Having captured the Big West Conference regular-season title, Sacramento State hosted the conference championship last weekend. Receiving a first round bye as the top seed, the Hornets were upset by sixth-seed CS Northridge in five games ( 15-12, 8-15, 12-15, 15-9, 9-15) last Friday, Nov. 19 (CS Northridge was tournament runner-up to Northern Arizona). Ironically six days prior, its was the Matadors that Sacramento State defeated in five to capture its third straight Big Sky title. Leading the way for Sacramento State during the season has been senior outside hitter Angela Lewis. Lewis is tops on the team in kills (496, 4.47 kpg) and digs (476, 4.29 dpg) while second in total blocks (69, 0.62 bpg). In addition junior middle blocker Sarah Chlebana has tallied 346 kills (3.23 kpg), 337 digs (3.06) and 63 blocks (0.57). The Hornet's top blocker is sophomore middle Tasman Dwyer with 140 total blocks (1.31 bpg) while collecting 346 kills (3.23 kpg).
What's in a Loss-- Fresno State endured its longest losing streak on the season with four straight from Sept. 25 through Oct. 9. With three of the four losses coming on the road, the Bulldogs also came across four teams which have since or had been ranked in the Top 25 as well as receiving votes in the coaches' poll. Fresno State's drought began outside of conference play against the University of San Diego. The Toreros, who had a No. 18 preseason ranking, jumped into the Top 25 after their win over Fresno State and currently stands at No. 21. The 'Dogs then hosted sixth-ranked Stanford, which held a No. 2 preseason ranking, and currently is second in the national poll. The Bulldogs lost both WAC matches to No. 3 Hawai'i. Fresno State encountered a red-hot Spartan team who boasted to their best start in school history with a 15-1 mark after the win over the 'Dogs, they've received votes in the Top 25 this season.
Buckelew Nailing Down Senior Year-- Starting the year off with eight straight matches in double-digit kills, Anamie Buckelew has seven 20-plus kill performances, including a 31-kill match against TCU on Oct. 23. Averaging 4.96 kills per game overall and 5.42 in conference matches, she has strung together 14 consecutive double-figure kill matches with seven double-doubles. In addition to 13 10-plus dig matches on the year, including one 20-plus dig outing, Buckelew also has 12 double-doubles this season. With 10 or more kills in 16 of her last 18 matches, she has eight double-doubles in her last 18 contests. She is averaging 18.57 kills (5.42 kpg) a match in her last 14 appearances. In addition, Buckelew has ranked among the WAC's top two in kill per game all season long. Hitting .269 (260-95-613) in her last 14 matches (48 games), Buckelew leads the Bulldogs in kills (466) and is second in digs (262, 2.79 dpg) and total blocks (54, 0.57 bpg). She has 10-plus kills in every match but two this season.
Historic Moves-- Diann Aufdermaur reached the 4,000 career assist plateau on Oct. 31 against UTEP in game one of the three-game sweep over the Miners. She became the second Bulldog ever to dish out at least 4,000 assists and currently has 4,287 to rank second all-time at Fresno State and eighth all-time in WAC history. She also ranks No. 10 in career games played (373). Ranked seventh in total attempts (2,767), Buckelew cracked the Top 10 in career kills last month and currently ranks No. 7 with 1,106. In the five-game loss to San Jose State on Nov. 5, she became the eighth Bulldog to collect 1,000 career kills. Having played in 384 career games, Buckelew moved into the ninth spot at Fresno State. In blocking, she's seventh in the school's annals in total blocks (250) and sixth in block assists (216). Also in blocking, Adrienne Sankey ranks fourth in blocks per game (1.04), fifth in block assists (223) and total blocks (286), sixth in hitting efficiency (.265, 665-252-1,556) and seventh in block solos (63).
