Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
SMU (WAC VB Championship)
Volleyball Opens WAC Championship Play with a Sweep Over SMU
11/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 22, 2002
RENO, Nev. - The No. 2 seed Fresno State volleyball team opened Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament action in Reno, Nev., with a sweep over No. 7 seed SMU (30-21, 30-26, 30-28) at the Virginia Street Gym this evening.
The Bulldogs used a balanced attack and hit nearly .300 to advance to the WAC semifinals in which they will meet tournament host and No. 3 seed Nevada tomorrow night at 7:00 pm.
Fresno State had two 'Dogs collect a double-double while three players recorded double-figure kills and four had double-figure dig performances.
Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Fenton tallied a match-high 17 kills, hit .400 (17-3-35) and tied for team-high honors in digs (12) to pace the Bulldogs.
Senior middle blocker Java Johnson also hit .400 (13-3-25) while totaling 13 kills and four blocks. Senior outside hitter Christy Burnett collected a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs while hitting .364 (10-2-22).
Junior middle blocker Carrie Hartt, who chipped in six kills, and junior outside hitter Taneisha Tilque, who had three kills, shared match-high honors in blocks with five.
Sophomore setter Whitney Arena picked up 40 assists tonight and became the seventh player in school history to reach the 2,000 career assist plateau (2,013).
SMU was led by Katy Moffett (16 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks) and Beth Karasek (11 kills, 10 digs, 2 blocks).
In game one, Fresno State and SMU battled to seven ties before the Bulldogs broke away at 17-16. Fresno State closed out the game with a 13-5 run in the 30-21 victory. The 'Dogs hit .351 (18-5-37) while SMU was held below .100 (.095, 14-10-42). Fenton led the way with six kills while Burnett and Johnson had five. Tilque had three blocks and the digs were evenly distributed among the Bulldogs. Karasek and Moffett had four and three kills, respectively.
In game two, Fresno State and SMU jockeyed back and forth through the first 12 points before the Mustangs took a four point lead at 16-14. The Bulldogs kept chipping away and got within one at 19-20 and 21-22 before tying the match at 22. Three more ties (23, 24 and 25) would take place before Fresno State took control at 26-25 on a Hartt kill. Fresno State closed out the game with another Hartt kill and a trio of kills by Fenton for the 30-26 victory. Fenton and Johnson each had four kills for Fresno State. Moffett had a game-high seven kills.
In game three, Fresno State played catch-up to SMU but the Mustangs would have trouble at the serving line with six service errors. With the game tied at 2-2, SMU kept at least a two point cushion between itself and Fresno State (6-3, 7-5, 9-7) before the 'Dogs tied the game at 9-9. After a 12-12 tie, the Mustangs put together another string of points and held a 15-13 lead before the game would be tied another four times (15, 16, 17, 18). Fresno State took its first lead at 19-18 and went on a 6-2 run before SMU called time out at 25-20. The Mustangs nipped at the Bulldogs' heels and got within one at 27-26. A Johnson kill and a Hartt kill put the 'Dogs at match point (29-26) but SMU staved off match-point two times before a service error resulted in a 30-28 victory for Fresno State. Fenton led the way with seven kills while Moffett had six for SMU.
"We played a nice solid match," head coach Lindy Vivas said. "Tonight everybody contributed and we had three players who did especially well offensively.
"I thought we served tough. When we didn't SMU did a nice job of passing and running an aggressive attack at us.
"SMU played us much tougher and passed better and was much more aggressive offensively. When they do pass they can run the right side just as good as anybody.
"Tomorrow night we'll need to serve tougher. We need to slow down their (Nevada's) quick attack. We need to have excellent ball control in our passing and defense and control the first contact so that we can run our offense. We did not do that well the last time we were here and we let games get away from us.
"Our serving and passing is critical. We have to be mentally tough because this crowd is very loud, very hostile and we've already seen that. We need to be able to handle that."
