Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Sacramento State
`Dogs Sting Hornets in Five Sets in Sacramento State Invite Opener
9/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Fresno State volleyball team (2-2) flexed its never-say-die attitude with a stirring 3-2 win over Sacramento State Friday evening at the Hornet's Nest.
In the teams' tournament opener, the `Dogs won the first set, 25-17, before the Hornets took the second and third sets by 25-22 and 25-23 scores. Fresno State, however, bounced back in the fourth and fifth stanzas with 25-16 and 15-3 decisions that were punctuated by a match-ending 29-8 run.
"We always have a long battle when we play Sac State," head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell said. "The good news is we were ready to play hard as long as we had to. Eventually, we had really strong offensive output out of many of our attackers. We played far more consistent than we did last weekend so we're pleased with the improvement."
Team-wise, Fresno State ended with notable edges in kills (63-52), hitting (.289-.171), assists (61-50), aces (5-4), blocks (9-7) and digs (63-42).
Individually for the `Dogs, junior outside hitter Zana Bowens landed a team season high in kills (19) and aces (2), and registered her fifth career double-double thanks to her 11 digs. Her kills total was two shy of her career best, while her .324 hitting mark was a season high. The Long Beach, Calif., native also owns the team's second- and third-best kill tallies of the year with her 16 vs. Rice and 15 against UC Davis last weekend.
In her second start of the season, senior outside hitter Jaimee-Lee Morrow added a career high in kills (16) and hitting (.333), and her 36 attempts was only one shy of Bowens.
Making her first appearance of the season on the right side, freshman hitter Carly Scarbrough played the final four sets and ended with nine kills and hit .294.
In the middle, senior Maci Murdock posted a team season high in blocks (6), and also logged her first +.300 total of the year (.375, 8 kills).
At setter, sophomore Brooke Legaux made her first start of 2014 and directed the team to a season-high .289 mark. The Mission Viejo, Calif., native logged a career-high and team-season high 51 assists - almost three times her previous career best (18) from 2013 when she helped run a 6-2 offense.
"I give a lot of the credit of the team's play tonight to Brooke," Netherby-Sewell said. "Brooke and Jelena (Jovanovic) are very different setters with different strengths. Tonight Brooke was solid and in control. She kept working to get her hitters in good positions and that paid off. I liked that our middles really got the job done in transition and our pins were very solid. We're not big, but when we play hard and smart, we're good."
In the back row, sophomore libero Maggie Eppright paced the squad with a team season high in digs (21), while freshman defensive specialist Jacqueline Hutcheson also landed a career high in aces (2) and added nine digs.
"Maggie has really solidified her role as a dependable libero," Netherby-Sewell said. "She's passing well and is playing with confidence. She dug a lot of balls tonight, and she can control them, too."
In comparison, Sacramento State category leaders included Morgan Stanley (16 kills, .300, 17 points), Kennedy Kurtz (41 assists), Lana Brown (4 blocks) and Hannah Meadows (9 digs).
In the first set, the Hornets held much of the early momentum en route to a 12-9 lead. However, a 7-1 Bulldog answer behind the serving of Legaux and Bowens forced Sacramento Sate to take a timeout at 16-13. Another 4-2 Fresno State spurt forced the Hornets' other timeout down 20-14, and Hutcheson followed with a four-serve run that pushed the Bulldog lead to 23-16 in the eventual 25-17 decision.
In the second set, scoring was tight early as Fresno State owned the period's first two-point advantage, 12-10, but Sacramento State answered with a 5-1 run to stake its own two-point lead, 15-13, and force a Fresno State timeout. The `Dogs tied it twice more at 17 and 18 before the Hornets used a 5-2 spurt to go up 23-20, en route to the 25-22 decision.
Besides a 2-0 Sacramento State lead to open the third set, the next two-point margins didn't occur until a Fresno State 12-10 lead on a Scarbrough kill and 19-17 Hornet lead. After a Fresno State timeout, Sac State led by 2-3 points the remainder in its 25-23 decision.
In the fourth set, Fresno State used a five-point surge behind the serving of Zana Bowens to take a 13-11 lead. In that service run, the `Dogs denied Sacramento State's most acrobatic play of the night on a lunging, one-handed overhead pass at the scorer's table that was reciprocated by a Morrow cross-court kill for a 11-10 lead. Ultimately, the `Dogs ended the set on a 17-5 run that included six of Morrow's seven kills in the set.
After a Bowens kill opened the fifth set, the `Dogs jumped out to a 9-0 lead behind her serving en route to the 15-3 victory. The Hornets had four hitting errors in the set, while the `Dogs landed eight kills with only one error for a .538 hitting mark for the finale.
The 'Dogs now sport a 3-2 edge in Netherby-Sewell's tenure vs. the Hornets after 3-2 and 3-1 wins in 2010 and '11 (while 2009 and 2010'2 setbacks were by 3-1 and 3-2 counts). Overall in the series dating back to 1972, Fresno State now owns the upper hand by a 21-9 margin.
Friday's match was also the second five-set comeback vs. an in-state nemesis this week for seventh-year head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell after Fresno State topped UC Davis last Saturday in Houston.
Looking ahead, the `Dogs return for tourney second and final-day action with a 10 a.m. match vs. NCAA Tournament returnee UC Santa Barbara (0-4), then face Loyola Marymount (4-0) at 5:30 p.m.
The Lions topped the Gauchos earlier Friday afternoon, 3-0, to open the tournament.
More tournament information and a link to online broadcasts and live stats are available at the http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/wvball/2014-15/sacstateinvite14 URL address.
"Be Bold!" - Fresno State volleyball and football season tickets are on sale at the www.GoBulldogs.com website and at the Bulldog Ticket Office.
