Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
* Boise State
Volleyball Sweeps Boise State on the Road
9/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 28, 2002
BOISE, Idaho - Fresno State decided to let by gones be by gones and the Bulldogs responded from a poor offensive showing two days ago with a near .400 hitting performance today after recording their 10th sweep of the season with a 30-15, 30-18 and 30-24 road victory over Boise State.
The Bulldogs, who improved to 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, utilized their bench and held the Broncos to a .108 hitting performance as Boise State (1-12, 0-1 WAC) endured its 10th consecutive loss.
Improving to 8-1 on the road, Fresno State had two players record a double-figure kill match in senior outside hitter Christy Burnett and sophomore outside hitter Kristen Fenton. Burnett had a match-high 13 kills for her 41st career 10-plus kill match while Fenton added 12 kills.
Off the bench, redshirt freshman Andrea Thrower was perfect from the floor and hit .583 after collecting seven kills with no errors in 12 attempts. Junior middle blocker Carrie Hartt, who was able to rest all of game three, also hit .583 after notching seven kills with no errors in 12 attempts.
Senior middle blocker Java Johnson, who had a career-high three aces against BSU, chipped in nine kills and had four blocks in the win. Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Tina Brennan had a team-high nine digs.
Boise State was led by Kate Alderson's eight kills (8-7-29) while Chera Sommer led all players in digs (16).
In game one, Fresno State hit .457 (20-4-35) as Fenton (5-0-6), Hartt (5-0-9) and Burnett (8-2-12) accounted for 18 of the team's 20 kills. Hartt also had all three of her blocks in the first game while sophomore setter Whitney Arena, who dished out 34 assists in the match, led the 'Dogs with five digs. Fresno State closed out the 30-15 win with an 8-2 run that included three blocks and a trio of kills by Burnett.
In the second game, Fresno State hit .345 (13-3-29) as the Broncos hit in the negative (-.028, 10-11-36). With 11 Bulldogs seeing action, Fenton (3-0-6) and Burnett (3-1-4) led the offensive attack while Johnson added three blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Amanda Magalei started on the outside and had two kills and two digs as Fresno State wrapped up a 30-18 victory.
In the finale, Fresno State hit .340 (21-4-50) as Thrower and Magalei started in the middle and outside, respectively. Johnson and Thrower were flawless in their offensive attack. Johnson hit .429 (6-0-14) with a block and Thrower hit .600 (6-0-10) with a block to lead the way. Fenton added four kills while Magalei had two with Brennan notching six digs in the 30-24 win.
"Overall, I'm pleased with how we bounced back," 12th-year head coach Lindy Vivas said. "We had a rough night on Thursday and we had to get back on track with our serving and passing and we did that. Each player stepped out on the court and did her job.
"This match was a good chance to see other players," Vivas said. "Amanda (Magalei) and Andrea (Thrower) received some good playing time and they will help us down the stretch. Today we dug well and kept the ball in play for several long rallies and won those rallies. One of the things I needed to see was an improvement on our outside hitting game. Christy (Burnett), Kristen (Fenton) and Amanda kept the pressure on Boise State.
"We also learned a few things on the road, especially how to play in and handle a hostile environment," Vivas added. "The other night we were not effective because of too may hitting errors and our defense was not what it had been all season."
The Bulldogs have tied the program's best start for the third time by winning 13 of their first 15 matches. In 1976 and 1998 Fresno State opened the year with an identical 13-2 mark.
Fresno State (13-2, 1-1 WAC) continues conference play on the road when the Bulldogs travel to Tulsa (Oct. 3) and UTEP (Oct. 5) next week.
