Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Colorado State
`Dogs Lock Horns With No. 7 Rams
10/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Fresno State volleyball team (6-14, 1-5) wrapped up its first of two straight weekends in the Rocky Mountains with a three-set decision at No. 7 Colorado State (18-1, 5-0) Saturday afternoon at Moby Arena.
The returning Mountain West champions, however, came away with the match via a 25-15, 25-7, 25-17 score for their 14th straight-set victory of the year.
Team-wise, CSU held edges in the final comparisons in kills (38-25), hitting (.429-.000), assists (35-22), aces (6-3), blocks (11.5-1) and digs (35-27), and the teams tied in service errors (6-6).
"All week in practice we've been talked about giving our maximum effort and having passion when we play," acting head coach Mallori Gibson said. "We saw bursts of it throughout the weekend, and more consistently today. That's been our focus - to be more mentally engaged and take care of the things we can control rather than focusing on the outcome. Throughout this week we've learned some great lessons that will help build character and teach us to play with more courage."
Freshman hitter Carly Scarbrough led the 'Dogs in kills (8) and points (8) for the seventh and fourth times this season, respectively, while junior outside hitter Zana Bowens added seven kills and five digs.
Senior outside hitter Jaimee-Lee Morrow came off the bench to land all three of kills in the final set, and hit .375 for the match.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Molly Pearson led the team in aces for the third time this season and tied her season high (2) after consecutive conversions in the first set.
Among other reserves, freshman outside hitter Taylor Brubaker landed her first kills as a collegian in her second match of the weekend and season. The San Clemente, Calif., native ended with a .400 hitting mark, based on her two kills and no errors among her five attempts.
"Bringing in Jaimee-Lee on the left side and moving Carly to the right helped to build our offense, and it gave us a lot more options," Gibson said. "Taylor's first collegiate kill, Molly's aces and a solo block from Maci Murdock also helped to give us more energy today. We played more as a team, and that helped us to get into more of an offensive rhythm at the end of the match."
Sophomore libero Maggie Eppright topped the team in digs (8), and sophomore setter Brooke Legaux added 11 assists and five digs.
Ram stat leaders included Adrianna Culbert (10K, .625), Kelsey Snider (7 kills, 3 aces, 13.5 points, .538), Deedra Foss (26 assists, 5 kills) and Jaime Colaizzi (2 aces, 10 digs).
Saturday marked the second absence this season of seventh-year head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell who did not make the trip due to pregnancy reasons.
In the first set, CSU used a pair of three-point spurts to jump out to an 8-3 advantage, then added a five-point run to up its lead to 14-5. FS rallied back with a three-point response that featured Pearson's pair of aces that made it 16-9. After the Rams upped their lead to 21-10, Fresno State came back with a 4-1 stretch that included Scarbrough's fourth kill of the set and a pair of Ram service errors. CSU ended the period, however, with a 3-1 span to give it the 25-15 decision.
After the Rams pushed out to a 5-0 second-set lead, Fresno State scored three of the next five points with the last coming on a Lauren Torres kill to pull within 7-3. CSU responded with a five-point run to up its lead to 12-3, but Fresno State countered with two of the next four points on a Scarbrough kill and Ram service error to make it 14-5. The Rams ended the set on a 11-2 run to take the set, 25-7, with the Bulldogs' final points on kills by Bowens at 17-6 and Molly Pearson at 20-7.
After CSU staked a 4-0 lead in the third set, the teams traded points through a 9-6 Ram advantage. CSU used five, two-point stretches and another three-point burst to up its lead to match point, 24-13. Fresno State battled back with its best run of the match - four straight points thanks to a pair of Morrow kills and another by Scarbrough - to close within 25-17. The Rams ended the match the next point on a kill for the 25-17 decision.
Looking ahead, Fresno State remains on the road next weekend in the Mountain Time Zone next with matches at Utah State (Thu., Oct. 16, 6 p.m. PT) and Boise State (Sat., Oct. 18, 1 p.m. PT).
"Be Bold!" - Watch every Bulldog conference match online at www.GoBulldogs.com/videos.
