Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Utah State
Mason's Career-Best Outshined By Aggies
10/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FRESNO, Calif. - On Halloween weekend, the Bulldogs almost pulled a treat out of their bag of tricks but fell short in a five-set thriller to the Aggies of Utah State.
The Fresno State volleyball team entered the evening with the WAC's best mark in five set matches at a perfect 4-0 clip, but the Bulldogs' resilient comeback charge ended in a 3-2 defeat on Saturday night in the Save Mart Center.
Sophomore Marissa Brand showcased her firepower early and often as she extended her WAC-leading double-double mark to 11 on the season and five straight matches while senior libero Kelly Mason provided her second consecutive career-best night with 32 digs.
"Marissa gives us what we need at the right time," head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell said of one of the WAC's premier performers.
Junior Kelli Parker, who featured an array of lightning bolt kills in the contest, registered her first double-double of the year on season-bests in kills (16) and digs (16).
"KP (Parker) does provide a more assertive energy on the floor," Netherby-Sewell added. "It's more than the numbers."
Brand, Mason and Parker each earned this week's Fighting Spirit Award from Netherby-Sewell.
"All three showed competitive fight when the team's chips were down," the third-year head coach noted. "They played hard every point and Mason had two amazing defensive efforts."
After dropping the first two sets 25-13 and 25-12, the `Dogs looked like a completely different team on the court after intermission.
"The focus was accountability," Netherby-Sewell said of her talk to the team in the locker room at the halfway point. "I knew they were worth more than this. We came out ready to change."
The charge started by inserting freshman Megan Callahan into the front row attack and the left-handed outside-hitter responded with career-highs in digs (6), kills (5) and blocks (3) and match-changing presence that helped spark back-to-back 25-21 Bulldog victories in the third and fourth sets.
A competitive fifth-set battle ensued. The 'Dogs and Aggies were locked at 10-10 late in the decider before USU pulled away by tallying the five of the final seven points and snapped the WAC's best run in five-set thrillers.
USU's Liz McArthur shared top honors with Parker for the match-high in kills with 16 of her own and the Aggies' Christine Morrill reached 30 digs for the visitors on the night.
Fresno State (10-13, 4-7 WAC) drops into a tie for sixth place in the WAC standings with Boise State, who the Bulldogs swept in the season series (2-0) during 2010 conference play.
The top six schools qualify for the 2010 WAC Tournament in Las Vegas' Orleans Arena Nov. 22-24. All-session tickets are available for $45 at www.gobulldogs.com or through The Bulldog Ticket Office at 559-278-3647.
The 'Dogs take to the road for WAC dates at New Mexico State (Nov. 4) and Louisiana Tech (Nov. 6). The match at NMSU will be aired live at 6 p.m. Thursday evening on KAIL and www.espn3.com.
"I'm happy we are on television," Netherby-Sewell said. "We are a fun team to see on the road, so the fans will appreciate that."
"We Are Your Team!" - After a road swing at New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech, Fresno State will face No. 5 Hawai'i in a Veterans' Day battle on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center. The Nov. 4 contest at NMSU will be shown live on KAIL in Fresno at 6 p.m.
