Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Utah State
McKee Has Career-High in Bulldogs Comeback Attempt
9/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - Down 20-27 in game three, the Fresno State volleyball team used some of its comeback magic to win the game, behind a career night from senior Alisha McKee, but the Aggies won game four and the match 3-1.
"Everyone came together on the bench and knew we had momentum at the end of game three," said McKee. "We have proven we can do it before and just because we are down two games does not mean that it is over and we showed that today."
Alisha McKee had a career high 24 kills and season-high seven digs and Lacey Gera led the team with a .275 hitting percentage and a season-high 17 kills of her own.
"I was really excited and put the ball away every time and my team was behind me to help me do that," added McKee.
The Bulldogs got the early lead at 4-0 in game one with Tiffany Hess serving and a couple of attacking errors by Utah State. The Aggies fought back to take the lead at 19-18 on a kill Melissa Osterloh and took game one 30-26. Amanda Nielson had 11 kills in game one alone for USU. Alisha McKee led the Bulldogs with six kills.
Utah State was hot in game two, hitting .484, as they took an early 2-1 lead and won the game 30-19. Lacey Gera led the Bulldogs in game two with five kills.
Game three was back-and-forth with four early ties and it was close as two at 20-22 before the Aggies scored five-straight points off of Heather Hillier's serving to take the 20-27 lead.
Freshman Tairyn Rasmussen had a kill to make it 21-27 and then she served. McKee had back-to-back-kills and Rasmussen had two-straight service aces as the Bulldogs scored six consecutive points of their own.
Lisa Gera had a kill to tie it at 28 and the game ended with a kill by McKee as the Bulldogs got the 30-28 victory.
Utah State took the lead at 9-8 in game four, and the Bulldog fought back late in the game once again to get within two at 28-26. A kill by Danielle Taylor from USU made it 29-26, then FS scored twice on a kill by McKee and hitting error on Taylor. The match ended 30-28 on an attacking error by the Bulldogs.
As a team, FS tied a season-high 65 kills, 60 assists and five service aces for a four-game match in 2007.
Amanda Nielson led the Aggies with 28 kills and 15 digs. Utah State hit .276 for the match compared to .148 for FS.
The loss drops FS to 2-4 in the WAC and 4-12 overall. Utah State improves to 5-1 in the WAC and 8-7 overall.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Fresno State Volleyball team's next match is Thursday, October 4th against Boise State at 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center. Tickets can be purchased through the Save Mart Center Box Office, by phone at (559)485-TIXS, or online at Ticketmaster.com.
