Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Louisiana Tech
`Dogs Win Opening Match at WAC Tournament
11/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2008
HONOLULU, Hawai'i - After a slow start, the Fresno State volleyball team fought back to defeat Louisiana Tech in the first round of the WAC Tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center Thursday morning 3-1, by set scores of 23-25, 25-23, 25-22 and 25-19. Fresno State now plays No. 1 seed New Mexico State in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament at 7 p.m. PST tonight. The Bulldogs improved their record to 7-19 overall.
Louisiana Tech came out swinging early in set one and took an early 11-8 lead. Fresno State would hang with the Lady Techsters and points would rally between the two in a slow first set. La. Tech however, fought off a couple of late errors by its team and a kill by Bulldog Lauren Berger to take set one 25-23.
Freshman Baylee Platt led the `Dogs with seven kills in set one and hitting .308.
Fresno State would also get off to a slow start in set two, down by as many as three on three different occasions, but tied at 20, a kill by Brianna Clarke would give the `Dogs the lead for good at 22-21 and they would go on to win the set 25-23 to tie the match at 1-1.
The Bulldogs hit a match-high .314 in set two.
Set three started to go the way the Bulldogs would've liked the first two to go. Fresno State came out and took the lead at 1-0 and built on the lead from there. Lacey Gera had six kills alone in set three, including the final two points to win the set at 25-22.
In set four, the Bulldogs and Lady Techsters were close early but the Bulldogs were able to hold a lead that began at 6-5 until La. Tech took the lead at 16-15. Back-to-back kills by Clarke and Gera would give the lead back to the Bulldogs at 18-17. From there, the Bulldogs would go on to take the set and the match at 25-13.
Gera led the Bulldogs in the match with a new season-high 20 kills and had a .382 hitting percentage.
Platt ended the match with 18 kills of her own and a team-high 15 digs. Her 14th kill of the match gave her 300 on the season. Now with 304 kills in her career, Platt ranks fourth on the Fresno State Freshmen list. Also, with 843 total attempts in her career, Platt ranks fourth on the Freshmen list in that category as well.
With the win, head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell picked up her 50th collegiate coaching victory. The Bulldogs also now with seven wins, equal their best win total in three years.
"I think both teams were fatigued and it came down to who was going to fight through it the most," Netherby-Sewell said. "We ended up pulling it out at the end of the match after a rough start."
Fighting Spirit Award
This morning's `Fighting Spirit Award' went to the bench in set two, which included Kelly Mason, Lisa Gera, Jit Athwal, Sarah Oglesby and Kasey Van Grouw.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Bulldog volleyball team moves on in the WAC Tournament, next facing No. 1 seed New Mexico State at 7 p.m. PST at the Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday night. For complete tournament results and information on the WAC Tournament action log on to www.gobulldogs.com and www.wacsports.com.
