Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Utah State
`Dogs Continue Rocky Mountain Run at Aggies
10/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LOGAN, Utah - The Fresno State volleyball team (6-15, 1-6) opened its seventh road trip of the season in eight weeks with Thursday night's match at Utah State (9-9, 5-3) and the Wayne Estes Center.
The Bulldogs fought the Aggies past regulation in the third set before the Aggies pulled out the 28-26 clincher, while the home team also took the first two sets by 25-13 and 25-15 counts.
"The way we finished is how we're striving to start the match," said acting head coach Mallori Gibson. "Offensively, Maci and Zana played smarter and more aggressively in the third set, and that made a huge impact on the team's performance. It was good to see the whole team compete harder and show more passion in the third set. We talked about building off that as we move forward and continuing that at Boise State."
Team-wise, Utah State owned advantages in the final comparisons in kills (42-32), hitting (.333-.078), assists (40-30), aces (4-2), digs (34-32) and blocks (16-0), while Fresno State logged fewer service errors (4-6).
Topping the Fresno State offense again, junior outside hitter Zana Bowens led in kills (10) and points (11) for the team-best 13th and 15th times this season, respectively. That kill total was her 15th double-digit effort of the season, and fifth in three sets.
The Long Beach, Calif., native entered the weekend pacing the conference in aces, and not surprisingly added her team-leading 30th ace of the campaign. Likewise in the first set, sophomore setter Brooke Legaux logged her sixth ace of the season (and fourth in the last six matches).
Senior Maci Murdock landed nine kills, and led the team in hitting (.438) for her fifth match-leading total of the season and fourth +.400 mark of 2014.
The offense also counted five kills each from freshman Carly Scarbrough and senior Jaimee-Lee Morrow.
On defense, sophomore libero Maggie Eppright paced the digs column (11) for the 13th time this year.
Top Aggie performers included Rachel Orr (16 kills, 333, 3 blocks, 8 digs), Kaitlyn Vanhoff (8 kills, 8 blocks), Kaylie Kamalu (10 kills, .400), Paige Neves (36 assists, 1 ace, 5 blocks), Hannah Smith (7 blocks), Elle Brainard (8 blocks) and Ashlan Rogers-Court (12 digs, 3 aces).
In the first set, Fresno State capitalized on a pair of early, two-point spurts to tie the match, 6-6, on Bowens' ace. The Aggies answered with a 9-0 run to go up, 15-6, but the `Dogs took three of the next six points thanks to a kill by Morrow and Murdock and Utah State attack error. The Aggies followed with a six-point run to move to set point, 24-10. Fresno State fought back with three straight points and its final one on a Scarbrough kill before the Aggies claimed the period, 25-13.
In the second set, the `Dogs were better at limiting opposing scoring runs, and used a pair of two-point stretches to pull within, 10-7, then traded points through a 13-10 deficit. Utah State added three- and four-point runs to push its lead to 16-10 and 21-12. Fresno State answered with three of the next four points with its last point on Morrow's third kill of the set, but Utah State capped the 25-15 decision with the final three points via kills.
In the third set, Fresno State used three, two-point runs to take its first lead of the period, 7-6. The `Dogs led again, 9-8, but a 4-1 Utah State response gave the home team a 13-10 advantage. Fresno State bounced back with a four-point run to go back up, 15-14, at the media timeout on one of Bowens' seven kills in the set. A pair of three-point runs by both teams gave Utah State a 17-15 lead, and Fresno State an 18-17 advantage. The Aggies added three straight kills to stake a 20-18 advantage, but a Utah State attack error and one of Murdock's five kills in the period re-tied it, 20-20, and forced the Aggies' first timeout of the match. After the teams traded points for ties at 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25, junior setter Jelena Jovanovic gave the `Dogs set point, 26-25, on a kill via a set over the right side of the net. However, the Aggies followed with an Orr kill and a pair of blocks in the middle to take the stanza, 28-26.
Thursday also marked the third absence this season of seventh-year head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell who did not make the trip due to pregnancy reasons.
Looking ahead, Fresno State wraps up its second straight weekend in the Mountain Time Zone next with a Saturday contest at Boise State (11-8, 4-3) at 1 p.m. PT.
"Be Bold!" - Watch every Bulldog conference match online at www.GoBulldogs.com/videos.
