Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UTEP
Volleyball Falls in Three to UTEP
10/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2004
EL PASO, Texas - The month of October has not been kind to the Bulldogs as Fresno State dropped a three-game Western Athletic Conference road match to UTEP at Memorial Gymnasium.
While freshmen Ilima Sam Fong and Mounia Nihipali collected double-doubles in the loss, the young 'Dogs continue to struggle in maintaining leads, stopping opponent's momentum and putting games away.
Outside hitters Nihipali and Christianna Reneau each had 11 kills to lead Fresno State. Nihipali also collected 11 digs.
At setter, Sam Fong recorded 35 assists and had 12 digs. Freshman libero Yuko Mori totaled a team-best 14 digs.
UTEP (7-10, 1-7 WAC) recored its first WAC win of the season behind Kari Stacy's 18 kills and 12 digs. With Heather Brisnahan also in double-figures for kills (12), both she and Stacy hit better than .300 for the Miners. In addition, Jaymie Swift notched a match-best 23 digs.
Game-by-Game Recap
Game 1 - After opening the game trailing 4-7, Nihipali served six straight points to give the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead. Holding two points leads at 11-9, 12-10, 14-12 and 15-13, UTEP tied the game at 15. With ties at 16, 17 and 18, the Miners went on a 3-0 run to take a 21-18 lead, forcing Fresno State to take its first time out. While UTEP pushed its lead to four at 24-20, the Bulldogs didn't back down. Fresno State went on a 5-1 run to tie the game at 25. After Bishop tied the game at 25 and 26 on a kill, the Miners made no mistakes coming down the stretch. With Fresno State trailing 26-27, a mishandled ball by the `Dogs coupled by a pair of UTEP kills gave the Miners the 30-26 win. Hitting .175 (19-9-57), Fresno State was led by Reneau's five kills while Nihipali added four and hit .444 (4-0-9). Defensively, Peters led the Bulldogs with six digs. UTEP hit .343 (14-2-35) and was led by Kari Stacy's four kills. Defensively, Jaymie Swift collected 11 digs.
Game 2 - Fresno State played from behind after tying the game at four. Trailing 7-5 and 8-6, the Bulldogs stayed in the game to tie it as 12 and 13. Consecutive kills by Nihipali gave the `Dogs their first lead and a 15-13 lead. With the game tied at 15, 17 and 19, Fresno State pushed to a four point lead at 22-19, forcing UTEP to call a time out. A service ace by Mori and a Bishop kill gave the Bulldogs a four point lead at 23-19 and 24-20, respectively. In addition, kills by Reneau and Nihipali gave Fresno State a 26-21 lead. However, the Bulldogs could not close out the game as they allowed the Miners to notch a 10-3 run and steal the win. With UTEP calling a time out and trailing 26-21, the Miners chipped away and went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 25 due in large part to four consecutive Bulldogs' errors. With points exchanged at 27, 28 and 29, a Miner kill and a bad set allowed UTEP to take a 31-29 victory. Bishop collected five kills and hit .625 (5-0-8) and picked up two blocks for the 'Dogs while Nihipalia had six kills and five digs. UTEP was led by Stacy, who had six kills. Swift and Katie Smith each recorded eight digs.
Game 3 - The Bulldogs never allowed themselves to get into the game. After collecting a kill to start the game, Fresno State would trail by as much as 10 points (20-10) before showing any kind of consistency. However, the Miners did not allow an opening of any kind as they held the 'Dogs to a negative hitting percentage (-.026, 9-10-38). Stacy recorded eight of her 18 kills in the final set as she hit .500 (8-1-14) for UTEP. Reneau was stymied as she could only muster three kills for Fresno State. UTEP took the final game, 30-18.
Fresno State (9-10, 2-5 WAC) dropped its fourth straight match and has gone 2-8 in its last 10. With a 6-8 mark in in their last 14 contests, the Bulldogs will look to completely change their fortunes at home next week. The 'Dogs host Louisiana Tech on Thur., Oct. 21, 7:00 p.m. and SMU on Sat., Oct. 23, 7:00 p.m., at the North Gym.
