Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State Sweeps to Win in 2010 Opener
8/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State volleyball team opened the 2010 season in sweeping style with a 3-0 victory over UC Riverside by set scores of 26-24, 25-22 and 25-19.
The `Dogs improved to 3-0 in season openers under head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell and collected the program's 550th win before an announced crowd of 1,874 passionate Bulldog fans.
The start of the Netherby-Sewell's third season at Fresno State also marked the debut of a pair of Bulldog freshmen, Erin Stock and Korrin Wild.
Stock, who has moved into the `Dogs starting setting role, tossed up 28 assists to her teammates and showed her determined mindset to compete at the Division 1 level.
"Erin is the best setter I have ever had on a team," sophomore Marissa Brand, who led the team with 11 kills, said of Stock. "She is quick and always puts it up awesome."
Netherby-Sewell is thrilled at how Stock has quickly adapted to the pace of the game and uses her incredible vision to run the offense.
"We love Erin," the head coach added. "She is such a high achiever and just needs to find consistency. Erin is very athletic and she will be great. We really wanted a freshman to fill that position because we wanted someone we could build on and she was more than ready to do so."
Stock credited her teammates for their level of play and support on and off the floor.
"I think we did really well tonight," Stock said of her first Bulldog match experience. "We worked together and it paid off. I was super nervous, but after that first serve the nerves went away and it was awesome. We are very excited for tomorrow and we are going to come out strong."
Wild, a 5-11 freshman from Sanger, Calif., powered five kills in her initial match in a Bulldog uniform and dug eight attacks from the visiting Highlanders.
"I like the ball control we displayed tonight. It has vastly improved from last season," Netherby-Sewell said of her team's performance. "Tomorrow we need to play better. We are going to change it up offensively to keep them from finding our weaknesses and we are going to go after theirs. We are going to come out swinging tomorrow."
Fresno State returns to the Save Mart Center on Saturday to face Santa Clara at noon and No. 20 Oregon in the nightcap at 7 p.m.
"We Are Your Team!" - The Fresno State Classic continues on Saturday with four contests. The teams participating in the tournament along with Fresno State are No. 20 University of Oregon, Santa Clara, and UC Riverside. The `Dogs play at noon and 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center.
