Fresno State Athletics
Seeds Set for WAC Tournament
11/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - No matter the outcome from Sunday's match against No. 13 New Mexico State the Bulldogs locked up the seventh seed in this week's Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Lac Cruces, N.M. With Boise State's loss to Idaho last Thursday, they dropped to the eighth seed and the Bulldogs earned the seventh seed for the second time in three years.
Most of the other seeds were decided before Sunday as well. Hawai'i earned the first seed, followed by New Mexico State. Idaho locked up the fifth seed, San Jose State will be sixth and Fresno State seventh. Boise State will be the eighth seed and play ninth seed Louisiana Tech in the play-in game to open the tournament.
The final 2007 WAC regular season match was Utah State at Hawai'i on Sunday night. If Utah State won they would earn the third seed and Nevada would be fourth. If Utah State lost, there would be a draw for the third and fourth seeds.
Going into the match, the Rainbow Wahine had a 108 home match winning streak in conference, dating back to their time in the Big West Conference. The Aggies came out and shocked the country, not only beating the Rainbow Wahine on their home court, but sweeping them nonetheless. With the win, Utah State earned the third seed.
Fresno State will play New Mexico State at 6:30 p.m. PST on Thursday in the final game of the first round. The winner will advance to the second round and play the winner of the San Jose State - Nevada match on Friday.
For a complete tournament bracket please see attached release.
First Road Victory of 2007 - Fresno State won its first road game on the 2007 season in dramatic fashion with a 3-2 victory over Boise State. It was the second match this season that the Bulldogs were down 0-2 and came back to win in five. Alisha McKee had a season-high 20 kills in the match and was nominated for WAC player of the week honors. The Bulldogs then traveled to western Idaho to take on the Vandals in Moscow. Idaho prevailed with a 3-1 victory. Lauren Berger led FS with a .588 hitting percentage with 12 kills.
First Conference Victory - The Bulldogs defeated La. Tech, 3-0, to earn their first conference win on the 2007 season on Sept. 15, and to move them to 1-1 in conference play. Fresno State also hosted Oregon State out of the Pac-10 Conference and the Beavers defeated the Bulldogs for the second straight year, 3-0. Fresno State fell in the WAC opener to New Mexico State, 3-0.
Bulldogs Get Huge Win in Kansas - Sept. 7-8, FS traveled to Manhattan, Kans. to play in the Varney's Kansas State Invitational. In an exciting opening match for Fresno State, it defeated Arkansas 3-2. The Bulldogs were down 2-0 after losing games of 30-14 and 30-13. They rallied back to win the final three games and the match. It was the first time since 2001 that Fresno State had lost the first two games and came back to win in five. It was also the biggest point deficit overcome since 30-point scoring six years ago. In game two, the Bulldogs faced No. 22 Kansas State and were swept 3-0. The Wildcats won all three matches of their own tournament to take the title. FS fell in the final match of the tournament to Northern Iowa, 3-0, with game scores of 30-24, 30-28 and 30-24, and finished the tournament in third place (1-2).
Kansas State All-Tournament Team - Sophomore Lacey Gera was named to the Kansas State Invitational all-tournament team as she helped the Bulldogs come back in that thrill against Arkansas on day one. Fresno State was down two games to zero and won the last three to take the match.
Bulldogs Sweep UC Davis for First Win of Season - The 2007 home schedule saw the Bulldogs earn their first win of the season with a 3-0 sweep of UC Davis. FS had a season-high hitting percentage of .286, led by senior Angela Wiggins with a .333 percentage.
Leading the Way - With a .310 hitting percentage, 19 kills and 10 block assists in opening weekend, freshman Lauren Berger was named the Toyota/gobulldogs.com Student-Athlete of the week by Fresno State on Aug. 27.
This and That - In the 2007 WAC pre-season coaches poll, Fresno State was selected eighth in the nine-team conference. Hawai'i is favored to repeat by picking up 64 total points. New Mexico State was picked second, followed by San Jose State and Idaho who tied for third. Nevada was selected fifth, Boise State sixth and Utah State seventh, followed by Fresno State and Louisiana Tech.
The Bulldogs went 6-24 in 2006 and recorded a 3-13 record in Western Athletic Conference play. Their season ended with a loss to top-seeded Hawai'i in the WAC tourney, 3-0. Hawai'i eventually went on to the NCAA tournament where it fell to UCLA in the elite eight and ended the year ranked ninth in the country.
2007 Bulldog Volleyball Capsules -
Sr., OH, Alisha McKee - McKee is the only four-year senior on the 2007 team. She is first on the team with 289 kills on the season and averages 3.14 per game. She is second on the team with a .166 hitting percentage. She is tied for second on the team with 65 total blocks. With 2,470 attempts in her career, she is now tied for 10th all-time in school history. Had a season-high 24 kills vs. Utah State (Sept. 29) and a season-high seven digs.
Sr., S, Tiffany Hess - Transfer from Irvine Valley College in her second season as a Bulldog. First on the team with 621 assists in 2007, 8.06 per game. Is currently 10th all-time at Fresno State with 1,252 career assists. Had a season and career-high 43 assists vs. Louisiana Tech (Oct. 21). Had a career-high five kills and three service aces against Boise State. At IVC she was a Second Team All-American in 2005 and first team All-Conference and first team All-State.
Sr., OH, Angela Wiggins - The third senior on the 2007 team, also a transfer from Tulane in Louisiana. Had a season-high .400 hitting percentage at Nevada on Oct. 11. Led the Bulldogs in their first win of the season over UC Davis with a .333 hitting percentage. Was nominated for the WAC player of the week Sept. 3., as she had 26 kills and 15 digs in three matchs.
So., OH, Lacey Gera - Was named to the Varney's Kansas State Invitational All-Tournament team as she lead the Bulldogs to he biggest comeback in school history. Leads the team with a .167 hitting percentage. Hit a career-high .667 in her hometown of SanJose.
So., S/L, Lisa Gera - Leads the Bulldogs with 405 digs, 5.13 per game, and service aces, 24. Had a career-high and school record six service aces in the match against Boise State Oct. 4.
So., OH, Cori Hayes - Has played in six games in 2007 and had season-high four kills at Washington.
So., MB, Kelly Leonardo - Leads the team with 86 total blocks. She has broken nearly every personal record in a match from 2006 including: kills (13), attempts (29), assists (2), service aces (4) digs (11), block solos (2), block assists (8) and total blocks (8).
So., MB, Lexi Watson - Tied a career-high seven kills in her hometown Bakersfield when the Bulldogs played CSUB on Oct. 24, but then broke it the following match against San Jose State with eight kills and 37 attempts.
Fr., MB, Lauren Berger - Was named the Toyota/gobulldogs.com student-athlete of the week for the week of Aug. 27. Had a career-high 12 kills at Idaho. Is third all-time in Fresno State history with 60 block assists as a freshman and in total blocks with 65.
Fr., L, Kelly Mason - Is second on the team with 246 digs on the season as a freshman. She as appeared in 98 games, the most of any Bulldog this season.
Fr., L, Meghan Moss - The freshman has appeared in 81 games in 2007. She is third on the team with 176 digs.
Fr., OH, Sarah Oskam - Had a career-high three kills, 12 attempts, two digs and two block assists at Utah State.
Fr., OH, Tairyn Rasmussen - Had a career-high 15 kills against Cal State Bakersfield.
Fr., S, Kasey Van Grouw - Is second on the team with 412 assists, fifth all-time at Fresno State for a freshman.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Bulldogs will take on No. 13 New Mexico State in the first round of the WAC Volleyball Tournament which begins on Thursday, November 15 in Las Cruces, New Mexico and concludes with the championship game on Saturday, November 17. Follow all the action at www.gobulldogs.com.
