Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Fresno Pacific (Exhibition)
Packed House for Greek Night
9/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FRESNO, Calif. - The Save Mart Center was packed for the sixth annual exhibition showdown between the Fresno State volleyball team and NAIA powerhouse Fresno Pacific. In a competitive, three-set battle, the visiting Sunbirds won the match 3-0 in the Wednesday night competition.
"The Save Mart Center is a great venue and the marketing staff did a great job of setting this game up tonight," said head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell. "Fresno loves this match and we will continue to play the Sunbirds any day."
The electric atmosphere was provided by 2,664 fans for the largest home crowd in the Netherby-Sewell Era and the intimately configured arena.
"Our fans were awesome tonight," freshman Korrin Wild reflected on the environment. "This is the biggest crowd I have seen at a volleyball match yet."
The theme for the evening was "Greek Night" and the sororities and fraternities came out in full support. Red and orange filled the stands along with proud Greek members representing different fraternities and sororities. The city of Fresno and local community showed up to cheer on the two premier collegiate volleyball programs in the San Joaquin Valley.
"This is our first volleyball game as a fraternity, but it definitely will not be our last," Sigma Alpha Epsilon's Forrest, who won a 32-inch screen TV for being the most lively fan, said of his experience. "We were excited to cheer on the volleyball team."
The Sunbirds opened strong with a first-set victory, 25-15. Sophomore Marissa Brand paced the `Dogs from the start with 14 attacks and three kills in the opening set.
The Bulldogs came back fighting and led 19-16 late in the second set before falling 25-22.
At halftime, the Fresno State Bulldog Beat drum line and dance team entertained the crowd with a festive spirit.
Fresno State continued to attack out of the locker room, but dropped the third set, 25-16.
Junior Brianna Clarke led the `Dogs with a .375 hitting percentage and converted seven of her 16 attacks for kills.
"This was a tough match tonight, but we are going to learn a lot from it," said Netherby-Sewell. "Everything that their team did offensively we are learning. This was a big stage for our young players tonight but we are going to learn from this evening."
"We Are Your Team!" - The `Dogs are on the road tomorrow heading to Berkley to play in the Hilton Garden Inn Classic. Check gobulldogs.com for live updates!
