Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
* Nevada
Volleyball Drops WAC Opener at Nevada
9/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2002
RENO, Nev. - After playing neck and neck the first two games, Fresno State struggled to maintain any consistent offense in the final two and the result was a four-game Western Athletic Conference loss (28-30, 30-28, 21-30, 23-30) on the road to Nevada.
The Bulldogs, who had their lowest hitting performance on the year (.139), fell to 12-2 on the year and also dropped to 5-6 in WAC openers while going 6-6 in league openers under 12th-year head coach Lindy Vivas.
The Wolfpack, who hit .237 in the match, had an outstanding defensive effort as they had four players record a double-figure dig performance as well as winning the battle at the net in blocking (11.5-10).
Fresno State was led by senior middle blocker Java Johnson, who hit .303 (15-5-33) and had four blocks. Junior middle blocker Carrie Hartt and senior outside hitter Christy Burnett each had 13 kills a piece. Sophomore libero/defensive specialist led the 'Dogs with 10 digs.
Nevada (11-2, 1-0 WAC) was led by senior middle blocker Michelle More, who had a match-high 19 kills, hit .356 (19-3-45) with six digs and two blocks. Jacqueline Randolph (14 kills, 10 digs) and Christine Harms (11 kills, 11 digs) posted double-doubles for the Wolfpack as the team improved to 5-0 at home this season.
Game one looked like it belong to the Bulldogs. Fresno State had control of the game right from the first serve. Building as much as a five point lead (10-5, 12-7), Nevada came back to tie the game at 14-14 and 15-15. Fresno State then surged ahead for a 20-17 and 21-19 leads before the Wolfpack clawed back to tie the game at 23. Taking the lead at 24-23 on a kill by Randolph, Fresno State had the equalizer and tied the game at 27. However, a pair of Burnett hitting errors coupled with a kill put down by More got Nevada the 30-28 win.
Game two started off with four different ties up until 5-5. Fresno State took the lead at 6-5 on a block put up by sophomore setter Whitney Arena and Hartt as the 'Dogs never trailed or allowed Nevada to take a lead. After building as much as a five point lead (20-15), the Wolfpack got within one three times (20-19, 23-22, 24-23) before Fresno State closed out the 30-28 win with a kill by Burnett.
Game three and four would be games to never relive on a court. Fresno State hit a collective .013 (21-20-77) in the two games combined. Nevada feasted on the Bulldogs inconsistency and inaccuracy and hit .261 (33-15-69) in the final two games.
"Nevada certainly came out hard from the beginning," head coach Lindy Vivas said. "I thought we played well the first two games but the wheels just fell off in the final two. Nevada was solid defensively and took away our usual consistent offense on the outside. We wanted to come out strong and get this road win but Nevada certainly sent a different message."
With its six-game match win streak snapped and suffering its first road loss on the year, Fresno State (12-2, 0-1 WAC) will look to put the past behind them when they travel to Boise State (1-9, 0-0 WAC) on Saturday for more league play.
