Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Se Missouri St
Volley 'Dogs Endure Another Loss
9/23/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State (7-7) encountered its third straight loss at home this past week with a four-game loss to Southeast Missouri State (14-16, 13-15, 15-12, 7-15) on Saturday afternoon.
Owning a 2-5 home court record, the Bulldogs had significant leads in game one and game two but could not sustain an offense. SEMO held the 'Dogs from game point in both games with the Otahkians rallying from at least five points down in each set to take a 2-0 lead. Fresno State rallied from behind in game three to pull out a winner before falling to Southeast Missouri State in game four.
Despite notching more kills (75-67) and outblocking (9-6) SEMO, Fresno State could not overcome a pair of Otahkian seniors in Krista Haukap (25 kills, 17 digs) and Lea Beckemeyer (24 kills, 11 digs) who had 49 of Southeast Missouri State's 67 kills. Five Otahkians had double-figure digs in the win as Haukap posted a match-high.
In the match, freshmen outside hitter Kara Verwey collected her first 20-kill match to lead the Bulldogs offensively. She also added five digs and two blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Lindsay Closs was the only other Bulldog to tally at least 10 kills with 16 while adding three digs and four blocks. Senior outside hitter Malia Malu had a team-high 16 digs while senior defensive specialist Leilua Satele collected 15 digs.
Sputtering the last three weeks, Fresno State is 1-6 in its last seven and 2-6 in its last eight.
The Bulldogs now must open Western Athletic Conference play. Awaiting in the wings is No. 2 Hawai'i, three-time defending WAC champs, and league newcomer Nevada. Fresno State will host the Rainbow Wahine next Friday, Sept. 29 and the Wolfpack on Saturday, Sept. 30, with a pair of 7:00 pm matches in the North Gym.
The Fresno State-Hawai'i match will be televised locally on channel 14 by AT&T Broadband-The Home Team. In addition, the match can be heard live on the web at gobulldogs.com.
