Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Hawai'i
`Dogs Battle No. 7 Hawai'i to Four Sets
10/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 27, 2011
FRESNO, Calif. - As the fans began to pile into the Save Mart Center on Thursday night, the Fresno State volleyball team knew they had a chance to go toe-to-toe with No. 7 Hawai'i and delivered four hard-fought sets before falling 3-1 to the undefeated Western Athletic Conference leader.
"I thought we came out pretty well," head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell said. "We had little breakdowns at the ends of sets, but we showed that we can play with a top 10 team and that's pretty impressive."
Sophomore Korrin Wild and freshman Maci Murdock led the team with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Junior Cecilia Agraz had a career-high 19 digs on night.
The excitement of the night and the possibilities present were visible on the faces of the Bulldogs as they lined up to take the court.
Swapping points with the No. 7 team in the country has a way of energizing any program. The Bulldogs pushed their intensity to a one-point deficit, 11-10, in set one.
Hawai'i won the race to 20, but the Bulldogs weren't far behind. Trailing 22-17, the 'Dogs began to rally. An ace by Wild capped off a 3-0 run to pull the 'Dogs within two, 22-20, forcing a Hawai'i timeout.
Fresno State could feel the tension on the Hawai'i bench and the pressure on the top team to pull out the set. The Rainbow Wahine answered the call, and took the set 25-20.
As the teams switched sides, it was evident the Bulldogs were giving everything they had to try to pull off the upset.
"We were more aggressive and we had more opportunities tonight," said Netherby-Sewell. "What's much better and much improved is our passing game, our serving game and our defense. So that's giving us more opportunities to swing and those are good things."
Set two opened with Cecilia Agraz serving three straight points as the Bulldogs went up 3-0. It took a kill from UH captain Kanani Danielson to spark Hawai'I, who pulled within two before Fresno State sided-out again to take the 4-2 lead.
While free points from service and attack errors kept Hawai'i in the match, the 'Dogs began losing their grip on the lead. Netherby-Sewell called timeout as Hawai'i took the lead 20-18. After the Bulldogs could not regroup, she called her second timeout of the set, with the score 22-18, to figure out how to pull out the most important set of the night.
If the 'Dogs could have pulled out set two, the tone for the match would completely change. They already had No. 7 Hawai'i on the ropes emotionally, trying to figure out how the Fresno team could be holding on so closely.
But the Bulldogs could not find the answer, and dropped the set 25-18 heading into the break.
As set three began, the 'Dogs showed that same spark that made a stunner by the end of the night within the realm of realisticoptions. Hawai'i, trying to find the solution to the close match, continued to sub nearly after every point. The match came down to whichever team minimized their errors the most and forced the opponent to earn every point.
Fresno State pushed through the end of the third set and became the 10th team this year to force a set four out of No. 7 Hawai'i. It also marked the 11th set win for Fresno State had over the Rainbow Wahine in program history.
Hawai'i jumped out to an early lead in set four as the momentum on the court shifted to the visitor. The Bulldogs found sparks to its offense from Wild on the outside, but the Rainbow Wahine defense came alive to stifle the Bulldogs' rallies. Fresno State survived four straight match points before falling in the fourth set 25-18.
"Watch out San Jose State," started Netherby-Sewell. "If we play as well as we did tonight with a little more consistency, we're going to have a great night on Saturday."
Fresno State dropped to 10-12 (4-5 WAC) on the season and hosts San Jose State this Saturday, Oct. 29 at home at 7 p.m. With six matches remaining, the Bulldogs are closing in on a spot in the WAC Tournament.
"We Are Your Team!" - Stay connected with Fresno State Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@FSAthletics). Fresno State welcomes San Jose State on Saturday at 7 p.m. to close the month of October. Tickets are available at the Save Mart Center Box Office. Come out and cheer your Bulldogs on as they make a run for the WAC Tournament.
