Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
* Rice
Volleyball Sweeps Rice
10/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. - It wasn't the best hitting performance from either team but Fresno State prevailed and recorded a three-game victory (30-28, 30-28, 30-28) over Rice, which entered the match tied for first place in the Eastern Division of the Western Athletic Conference race.
The Bulldogs, who outhit the Owls (.172-.116) and had to come from behind in all three games, came up big with clutch kills as well as key stuffs at the net as they outblocked Rice, 11-9, to earn their 13th sweep of the season.
Improving to 17-2 on the year and 5-1 in the WAC, Fresno State had three players record double-figure kill performances and two posted a double-double as the Bulldogs won their fifth consecutive match and improved to 7-1 at home.
Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Fenton and senior outside hitter Christy Burnett led the way with a double-double a piece. Fenton notched a match-high 13 kills, hit .270 (13-3-37) and had a team-high 17 digs to go along with two blocks in the win. Burnett added 11 kills and 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Java Johnson also chipped in 11 kills while tallying a team-best six blocks.
Rice, which falls to 10-9 overall and 2-3 in the WAC, was led by freshman outside hitter Kristina Hoban's 11 kills, who also hit a match-high .556 (11-1-18) while adding seven digs. Sophomore outside hitter Rebeca Pazo collected a double-double after tallying 10 kills and adding a match-high 25 digs to go along with three blocks.
In game one, Fresno State hit .180 and Rice hit .114. The Bulldogs were led by Fenton and Johnson, who each had five kills. Sophomore middle blocker Rebecca Kainz was a one-woman show for Rice. With six kills and one error in 11 attempts for a .455 hitting percentage, the 6-3 Austin, Texas native also had four blocks. Defensively, Pazo collected seven digs while being held to two kills and a -.100 hitting performance.
In game two, Fresno State managed a .163 hitting performance and the Owls improved with a .149 hitting efficiency. The Bulldogs evenly dispersed their kills as five different 'Dogs had at least two kills. The 'Dogs also outblocked Rice, 4-3, as they were led by junior outside hitter Taneisha Tilque and Johnson with two blocks a piece. The Owls won the digging game, 23-16, as Pazo notched five kills and had 11 of her 25 digs.
In game three, Fresno State hit .172 and held Rice below .100 (.091). Fenton led the way with five kills while both Burnett and Tilque contributed four kills each. Outblocking Rice, 4-2, sophomore libero Tina Brennan picked up eight of her 13 digs in the final frame. Johnson came up big at the net with three blocks while Tilque (2), Hartt (1) and Fenton (1) stopped the opposition's offense.
"We made it really hard on ourselves," head coach Lindy Vivas said. "We would work really hard for a point and then give up two or three easy ones. We played tough, though. We hung in there and we had some good, clutch swings.
"Rice is a good team. We couldn't quite put them away and they hung with us. Our defense picked up in the third game. We worked well as a team.
"Our passing was fine and Whitney (Arena) did a really good job setting. We were trying to get a rhythm with our hitting and we were fortunate to capitalize on some of their errors. We were very tough from 25 points to 30."
The victory gave 12th-year head coach Lindy Vivas her 100th home court win since taking over the program in 1991. Improving to 17-3 overall at home since last season, the Bulldogs also inch closer to handing Vivas her 300th career win as she is seven shy of reaching the milestone.
Fresno State, which received votes for the fourth consecutive week in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 and made its first appearance with votes this morning in Volleyball Magazine's Top 20, will close out its October homestand on Thursday, Oct. 17, 7:00 p.m., against SMU.
