Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Oregon State (Sacramento State Invite)
Volleyball Defeats Oregon State in Four
9/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 6, 2003
SACRAMENTO - The Fresno State volleyball team stuttered out of the gate but the Bulldogs dominated Oregon State in the final three games to pick up a four-game (22-30, 30-26, 30-24, 30-21) victory over the Beavers at the Sacramento State Invitational earlier this afternoon.
The Bulldog victory was the first loss of the season and in the tournament for Oregon State as the Beavers entered this morning's match with a 6-0 mark.
After hitting .182 and tallying 14 kills to OSU's .229 and 18 kills in game one, Fresno State went on to dominate efficiently and effectively in games two through four. The Bulldogs totaled 54 kills and hit .271 in the final three games while the Beavers picked up 34 kills and hit .125.
With five Bulldogs recording 10 or more digs, Fresno State's outside hitters Kristen Fenton and Stefanie Taelman were the 'Dogs offensive punch.
Fenton, a junior outside hitter, recorded her fourth straight 20-kill match and notched her third consecutive 22-kill match in the tournament as she hit .300 (22-7-50) and had four assists, two service aces, 13 digs and five blocks.
Taelman, a senior outside hitter, tied her career-high in kills with 15 for her second double-figure kill match on the season. She also recorded 11 digs and had her third career double-double while chipping in an assist, a service ace and two blocks.
Defensively, freshman outside hitter Tuli Peters totaled a match- and season-high 22 digs while adding five blocks to go along with eight kills and two service aces. Junior libero Tina Brennan was next with 15 digs while sophomore setter Robyn Keune, who had a career-high six kills and tied her career mark with four service aces, chipped in 13 digs and had 49 assists in the victory.
Coming into the tournament averaging 3.92 kills per game and hitting .430, Oregon State was led by Anne Watts-Roberts who had 12 kills and hit .222 in the loss.
With game one being tied nine times, Oregon State took the lead at 16-15 and never looked back. Building a three point lead at 18-15, the Bulldogs got within two at 20-18 and 22-20 but could not get over the hump as OSU eventually went up by five at 26-21. Closing out the game with a 4-1 run, Fresno State made three unforced errors in the final five points of the game as Oregon State won 30-22.
Game two featured 12 ties but Fresno State stayed poised and in control as the Bulldogs solidified a lead at 21-20. With a seven point lead at 28-21, OSU rallied a threat as it went on a 5-0 run to pull within two at 28-26. However, Taelman ended the rally with back-to-back kills and a 30-26 victory was had for the Bulldogs.
Game three only saw three ties (2-2, 3-3 and 4-4). After the last tie at 4-4, Fresno State went on to build a six point lead at 13-9 lead. Oregon State chipped away and got within two at 14-12 and 15-13 before Fresno State went on a 5-2 run for a 20-15 lead. After the Beavers called time out at 20-15, the Bulldogs built four different six point leads (23-17, 25-19, 26-20 and 28-22) before a Tiffany Bishop kill ended the game for a 30-25 win.
Game four was all Fresno State once a 4-4 tie was broken. Though Oregon State stayed within a point of the Bulldogs up until 12-11, Fresno State increased its lead to seven at 20-13 after an 8-2 run. Oregon State would get no closer than six points as Fresno State notched a lead as high as nine (28-21 and 30-21). A Bulldog block by Bishop and Fenton wrapped up the win and match for Fresno State.
Fresno State (5-1) concludes tournament play this evening with a 5:00 p.m. match against UC Riverside (3-3).
