Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UNLV
Resilient 'Dogs Push UNLV to Five
10/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
By: Kimberly Fisher
kimfisher@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. -The Fresno State volleyball team beat UNLV in five sets on Tuesday night at the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs (12-10, 4-4 MW) won sets one, three and five to claim the victory over the Rebels.
"Tonight sure was a grind," head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell said. "Offensively we had some trouble finding a rhythm but this team finds a way, which is great. The setters were really aggressive, we tried a different lineup and we made it work. Tonight was just a matter of outworking our opponent and we proved that. We didn't hit as well as UNLV and they blocked better than we did, but we still found a way to win and that's what being Bulldog tough is all about."
Fresno State has won two of their four regular season home games and are currently on a two-game win streak after rounding out the fourth week of conference with a 3-0 sweep over Air Force last Saturday.
Senior Zana Bowens had her best defensive showing of the year and recorded her tenth double-double with 16 kills and 18 digs. She had a near perfect reception percentage (.979) in a team-high of 47 attempts and one block over five sets.
UNLV jumped to an early 2-1 lead in the first set before junior libero Maggie Eppright made a six-point run at the service line, putting the ‘Dogs up 6-3. Fresno State remained ahead for the remainder of the opening set, outscoring the Rebels 25-23 while junior Aleisha Coates led the team with four points, two kills, one service ace and four digs.
In the second set, UNLV cut the ‘Dogs lead on four occasions before jumping ahead without allowing Fresno State to make a comeback. The Rebels tied the match with a 25-18 victory, despite an offensive breakthrough from sophomore middle block Lauren Torres with six points on six kills. Overall, Torres tallied a career-high of 13 kills on Tuesday with four blocks and three digs on defense.
Fresno State pushed set three past regulation with a 30-28 victory after making a comeback to tie it up 24-24 on the Rebels set point. The two Bulldog setters, Brooke Legaux and Jelena Jovanovic each had one unassisted kill to push the ‘Dogs past UNLV before forcing three Rebel errors to take set three. The duo combined for 11 kills on the night while accounting for 48 of the team's 61 assists. Jovanovic additionally had a top three finish in blocks (3) on Saturday, tying her second highest block figure this season.
The fourth set began evenly matched before UNLV pulled ahead and left the Bulldogs trailing by two, concluding the set 25-23 and tying the game for the second time. Five of Bowens' 16 kills came in set four as she scored a team high of 5.5 points in 15 attempts.
For only the second time this season, Fresno State claimed the five-set win after going the distance six times with four coming in the regular season. Fresno State's offensive effort was evenly spread between Torres, Bowens and freshman Sabrina Winslow with two kills apiece, helping the ‘Dogs to a 15-8 win. Winslow had her third-best collegiate showing with six kills, 22 assists, three digs and three blocks on Tuesday.
Over five sets, four Bulldogs claimed double-digit kill figures including Torres, Bowens, Winslow and sophomore Carly Scarbrough while Cotes had a team-high of three service aces and four players had 10 or more digs – Winslow, Bowens, Eppright and defensive specialist Jacqueline Hutcheson. At the net, Torres and Coates tied with four blocks each, adding to the team's total of 8.5 against UNLV.
The Rebels hold the all-time record of 7-6 over the `Dogs, with three consecutive victories since 2013 prior to Tuesday's match. Last season, Fresno State was defeated in seven combined sets over two matches and last topped UNLV in October of 2013 with a three-set sweep on the road. The two programs have consistently faced off for the past four years with five additional matches coming between 1996 and 2004.
Up next, the ‘Dogs travel to San Jose State to open the second round of the regular season against the Spartans on Saturday, Oct. 24. San Jose State sports an 11-10 overall record and is 3-5 in conference play, with only two regular season victories at Spartan Gym. Fresno State competed against the Spartans in a five-set Mountain West opener on Sept. 24, ending in a 3-2 decision in San Jose State's favor.
"We are ready to play San Jose State again," Netherby-Sewell said. "The last match slipped away from us unfortunately but we're excited to get back on the court. The team has been grinding away so they'll have tomorrow off and we'll get ready on Thursday and Friday. I think the rest will help us and we'll be ready to go on Saturday."
Since 1973, the Bulldogs and Spartans have competed in 79 matches with 29 coming in the last 14 years. San Jose State owns an all-time mark of 47-32 over Fresno State, after splitting 1-1 during the 2014 season. Since joining the league in 2013, the Bulldogs have claimed a near perfect record of 3-1 versus the Spartans with the lone loss coming in the most recent match on the road.
Fresno State returns home next week to take on Boise State on Thursday, Oct. 29 and Utah State on Oct. 31 at the Save Mart Center. Following a road trip during the first week of November, the ‘Dogs will have a three-game home stand while gaining the home court advantage one last time on Nov. 18.
"Be Bold!" - Follow Fresno State Volleyball on Twitter (FresnoStateVB), Instagram (FresnoStatevball), Facebook (FresnoStateAthletics) and YouTube (FresnoStateAthetics).
