Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
TCU
Valiant Effort to No Avail for Bulldog Volleyball
11/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2000
FT. WORTH, Texas - Feeling high after sweeping the SMU Mustangs, Fresno State charged into tonight's action with emotion and a mission to end the season on a high note. However, the Bulldogs, who were chained to a 2-6 conference road record, could not get that final and elusive win as they dropped a 15-9, 6-15, 13-15 and 13-15 to TCU on the road.
With the loss, Fresno State (13-17) posted a final Western Athletic Conference record of 6-10 and finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with TCU and Rice. No. 2 Hawai'i, which already captured the title last week, San Jose State and Nevada round out the top three. UTEP, which came on strong in the last month of the season, finished fourth.
Highlights from the match include junior middle blocker Shauna McQuaid who collected her 400th kill on season with her second kill on the evening coming in game one - the 11th straight year a Bulldog has collected at least 400 or more kills in a season. She finished the evening with 13 kills, eight digs and five blocks.
With 125 total blocks, sophomore middle blocker Lindsay Closs notched the second-highest number of total blocks in the last eight years since 1992 (Suzie Regul, 175). Needing just two block assists entering the match, Closs also became just the second player in eight years to post at least 100 block assists in a season since Regul (108 in 1992). She is the fifth Bulldog ever to tally 100 or more block assists in a season since stats were kept in 1981.
Vivas will enter the 2001 season needing ten wins to pick up her 200th win at Fresno State. Earlier in the year, Vivas collected career win #250 against Siena in the `Dogs season opener against Siena.
Freshman outside hitter Kara Verwey led the Bulldogs offensively again for the second night in a row after posting a double-double with a team-high 19 kills and 10 digs. In addition to McQuaid's 13 kills, sophomore outside hitter Christy Burnett added 16 kills and nine digs with three total blocks. Senior defensive specialist Leilua Satele had a team-best 12 digs.
TCU's Amy Atamanczuk's spearheaded the offense for the Horned Frogs with 22 kills and 14 digs. She hit .364 (22-6-44) in the match. Jennifer Sebastian and Bethany Toce each collected 10 kills. Marci King led all players with 16 digs while tying McQuaid for match-high honors in blocks with five.
Fresno State will have its annual awards banquet on Sunday, Dec. 3, 12 noon, at TorNino's. Tickets can be purchased by calling (559) 278-6833.
Game 1 recap With the opening point going to the Bulldogs, Fresno State charged out to a first game 15-9 victory against TCU. The `Dogs, despite hitting .239 (17-6-46) to TCU's .262 (17-6-42), followed the lead by Verwey who hit .429 (7-1-14). With each team collecting 17 kills a piece in the first set, Fresno State was up by five points twice (8-3 and 12-7) before TCU called its second time out at 12-7. The Bulldogs then went up 13-7 and closed out the game via a kill by Verwey.
Game 2 recap TCU wasted little time in evening the match at 1-1 with a 15-6 victory. The Horned Frogs jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Fresno State picked up its first point. Losing freshman setter Chelsey Duley with an ankle injury towards the end of game one, the `Dogs hit just .174 (8-4-23) while TCU hit nearly .500 (.480, 15-3-25) and could do no wrong. Trailing through out the match, Fresno State got within seven points of TCU (6-13) but the `Dogs offense could get nothing going. With Verwey being limited to just two kills (9-1-18, .444), McQuaid collected four kills to put her total to eight (8-3-20, .250) in two games. After two games, Fresno State was hitting .217 (25-10-69) while TCU was hitting .343 (32-9-67). The Horned Frogs were winning the battle defensively by outdigging (27-21) and outblocking (5-3) Fresno State.
Game 3 recap It was a battle of the wills in the third game and TCU prevailed with a 15-13 victory. Fresno State trailed in the early part of the game until it tied the game at 8-8. After that, the game saw three more ties (9-9, 11-11 and 13-13) before a critical call by the upper referee called a lift on a kill attempt by senior outside hitter/setter Malia Malu to give the Horned Frogs a 14-13 lead. TCU followed with game point on a Bulldog hitting error. In that game, Fresno State outhit TCU (.234-.208). Verwey pushed her team total in kills to 14 while Burnett collected eight kills in the third game to give her 12. TCU's Amy Atamanczuk owns a match-high 15 kills while hitting .367 (15-4-30) through three games.
Game 4 recap Fresno State trailed by as many as five points to start the game, but the Bulldogs showed their bite and tied TCU at 7-7. TCU answered back by going on a 6-0 run for a 13-7 lead. Fresno State fought back valiantly and went on a 6-0 run of its own to tie the game at 13 all. However, two straight kills by the Horned Frogs sealed the win at 15-13 and TCU came away with a 3-1 victory.
