Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Idaho
Bulldogs Suffer Heartbreaker in Moscow
10/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2011
MOSCOW, Idaho - You can only play with fire so many times before it finds a way to burn you.
The Bulldogs mounted another furious rally, but this time it stung them at the end as Fresno State suffered a 3-2 (16-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-19 and 11-15) loss at Idaho on Saturday evening in Moscow's Memorial Gym.
After a rough start gave Idaho an early 1-0 set advantage, the Bulldogs smoked the Vandals in the second set behind a strong 80 percent sideout percentage (12-15) and 16 kills to tie the match at 1-1.
In the third set, Fresno State built a 10-3 lead - only to have Idaho counter with a 22-11 run for the 25-21 set victory. The Vandals' surge lifted the home team to a 2-1 lead over the 'Dogs after three sets.
But the Bulldogs forced a fifth set for the third time this season in Western Athletic Conference action by taking the fourth set, 25-19.
In the final frame, however, Idaho applied a steady dose of pressure early and fought off a fierce late Bulldog push to win the decider by the score of 15-11. The win moved UI to 11-9 on the year and remained in solid control of third-place in the league at 5-2 against WAC opponents.
Fresno State senior middle blocker Brianna Clarke converted 13 kills on 26 attacks with only four errors for a .346% efficiency while Korrin Wild dug a match-best 19 digs and added 11 kills. The Bulldogs' libero Christina Lee recorded 17 digs in the match and setter Barbara Alcantara provided 48 assists.
"Christina, Korrin and Ba had a terrific defensive game," Netherby-Sewell noted.
Freshman Maci Murdock followed up a career-best showing offensively Thursday at Utah State by smashing nine kills against Idaho. Jaimee-Lee Morrow also had nine kills and Lauren Albertson was right behind with an efficient eight kills on 20 attacks.
"Overall, our defense is getting better, but we just need to stabilize out offense," Netherby-Sewell said. "Lauren Albertson helped us out offensively and gave us some of that stability we need."
Even in the defeat, Fresno State outhit Idaho .165 to .138 and delivered nine more kills (54-45), but lost the 13th opening set in its 19 matches this season. The Bulldogs also made more attacking, serving and receiving errors than the Vandals in the five-set contest.
"We battled and learned to keep competing and how to keep pressure on," Netherby-Sewell said. "We are one of few teams in the WAC who have battled it out this way at Idaho over the past few years and we look forward to seeing them at the end of conference."
The rematch between the schools will occur at the Save Mart Center on Nov. 10 when the Bulldogs host the Vandals on Greek Night during the final week of the WAC regular season.
For the week, Netherby-Sewell honored Alcantara, Wild and junior outside hitter Cecilia Agraz for their fighting spirit - a weekly team award.
"Though their performances suffered this weekend, they kept trying to be a catalyst to this team through the ups and downs," Netherby-Sewell said of the trio.
Fresno State (8-11, 3-4 WAC) will take a detour from conference play by traveling down Highway 99 on Wednesday night to visit the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners. The Bulldogs beat CSUB 3-1 at home on Sept. 22.
"We Are Your Team!" - Stay connected with Fresno State Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@FSAthletics). The next chance to see the 'Dogs at home is Oct. 22 when Nevada visits the Save Mart Center for Breast Cancer Awareness night.
