Fresno State Athletics
'Dogs to Compete In Home Finale
11/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
By: Kimberly Fisher
kimfisher@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
Wednesday, Nov. 18
Fresno State vs. Wyoming - 7 p.m.
Records: Bulldogs (14-15, 6-9 MW), Cowgirls (21-6, 11-4 MW)
Location: Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
Coverage: Live Video, Live Stats, ESPN Radio
Saturday, Nov. 21
Fresno State vs. Colorado State - 12 p.m.
Records: Bulldogs (14-15, 6-9 MW), Lobos (23-3, 15-0 MW)
Location: Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
Coverage: Live Video,
Bulldog Outlook
The Fresno State volleyball team is three games shy of capping the 2015 season, heading into the ninth week of conference action with an overall record of 14-15 and 5-9 in Mountain West play. The 'Dogs host Wyoming for the final home game of the year on Wednesday (7 p.m.) at the Save Mart Center, before traveling to Fort Collins, Colo., to take on No. 13 Colorado State on Saturday at 12 p.m. On Tuesday, Nov. 24 Fresno State will face UNLV for a road match held at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nev.
Approaching the second to last week of the regular season, senior Zana Bowens leads the team offensively with 307 kills (2.95 p/s) and 352.5 points while set most consistently by junior Brooke Legaux who has tallied 783 assists (7.68 p/s). Junior outside hitter Aleisha Coates paces the team from the service line with 28 aces (0.26 p/s) and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Torres holds a team-high of 82 blocks (0.88). Bulldog libero Maggie Eppright averages 4.76 digs with a total of 514 over 108 sets as the team's defensive standout this season.
Senior Sendoff
Fresno State's annual Senior Night will be on Wednesday as the team takes on Wyoming for the final home game of the year. A ceremony honoring the hard work and dedication from the senior class during their collegiate career at Fresno State will be held prior to the first serve slated for 7 p.m. The 2015 seniors are outside hitter Zana Bowens and setter Jelena Jovanovic. For the complete marketing calendar and details, visit the 2015 Promotion Schedule.
Opponent Breakdown
Wyoming is currently ranked third in the conference with an overall record of 20-6 (10-4 MW) while all four regular season losses came on the road against Nevada (3-2), Colorado State (3-0), San Jose State (3-2) and most recently Boise State (3-1). Prior to the start of the 2015 regular season, the Cowgirls made their way into the top 25 national standings and have since received votes to be ranked in several weekly polls.
The Cowgirls own an all-time mark of 14-10 over Fresno State including a 3-1 advantage since joining the league in 2013. The 'Dogs last victory over Wyoming came on the road in 2013 and have since fallen in 10 combined sets over three matches. The two programs have consecutively faced off for two games in the past three years with one matchup coming in 2009 and the remaining 17 played prior to the 21st century.
Fresno State will face its first ranked opponent of the year, No. 13 Colorado State on Saturday at the Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. The Rams are currently undefeated in 15 regular season matches and own an overall record of 22-3 on the season, while suffering only one loss on their home court against then-ranked No. 15 Arizona State. Colorado State has swept all but three of their Mountain West opponents in consecutive sets while allowing Air Force and San Jose State one set and going the distance (3-2) against Boise State.
Colorado State owns the all-time record of 10-8 since 1983, and was topped by Fresno State only once in the past three season's during what was a five-set battle on the 'Dogs home court in 2012. Fresno State has fallen in consecutive sets during the last four meetings against the Rams while competing on the road for two of the four Mountain West matchups starting in 2013.
Stay Tuned
This season, all home matches are featured live on the Mountain West Network , while ESPN Radio is set to broadcast the reaming home game live on 790 AM "The Deuce," with Christian Lukens as the host.
Live stat feeds of all home matches can be found on GameTracker or StatBroadcast, and fans can stay updated via social media through Fresno State volleyball's Twitter, Facebook or Instagram accounts.
Conference Standings
This week, No. 13 Colorado State remains ahead of the 11-program league, followed by Boise State and Wyoming while UNLV jumped one ranking to forth and New Mexico fell to fifth. San Diego State and Fresno State both moved ahead of Nevada, currently sitting eighth in the league. The bottom half of the weekly standings saw no change this week and are rounded out with San Jose State, Air Force and Utah State. The Mountain West rankings are determined by each team's regular season winning percentage and are headed by the Rams who remain undefeated (1.000) over 15 matches.
Bulldogs in the MW
Having played in at least 50 percent of the team's matches this season, Bulldog libero Maggie Eppright owns a conference-high of 514 digs (4.76 p/s) while setter Brooke Legaux ranks sixth in assists (783, 7.68 p/s). As an outside hitter, Zana Bowens places among the top 10 in overall kills (307, 2.95) and points (184, 3.41) scored during conference play.
Team wise, the Bulldogs are a top three conference leader in assists (1,328), kills (1,474) and digs (1,618) over 108 total sets. During regular season competition, Fresno State is positioned in the top five of this week's standings within five categories - hitting percentage (.203), assists (718), kills (789), service aces (69) and digs (846).
Double Trouble
Of the 43 Mountain West competitors who have posted double-doubles, Zana Bowens and fellow outside hitter Aleisha Coates combine for 19 on the season, while Brooke Legaux (11 digs, 36 assists) and freshman Sabrina Winslow (12 kills, 10 digs) have one apiece.
Bowens currently stands third in the league, only two shy of the category leader in double-doubles. Of her 11 this season, seven have come at home versus Cal Poly (17 kills, 11 digs), Cal State Fullerton (11 kills, 11 digs), Sacramento State (12 kills, 16 digs), Portland (11 kills, 12 digs), San Diego State (17 kills, 12 digs), UNLV (16 kills, 18 digs), and most recently Boise State (16 kills, 17 digs). The senior outside hitter has posted a season-high of 17 kills on two occasions and had 18 digs against the Rebels.
Coates places among the top ten in the conference with eight double-doubles, including three during the regular season with a pair against San Jose State on Sept. 24 (13 kills, 11 digs) and Oct. 24 (14 kills, 12 digs), and one versus Boise State on Oct. 29 (13 kills, 15 digs). The junior transfer logged her first Bulldog double-double against Georgia State at the Catamount Classic and tacked on an additional pair at both the Bulldog Showdown and Fresno State Classic, recording a high of 20 kills and 14 digs against the Pilots at home on Sept. 18.
Triple Threat
In a span of 15 matches, seven Bulldogs have accounted for triple-digit figures in various regular season categories including kills, assists, digs and points. Offensively, the 'Dogs are led by Carly Scarbrough with 167 kills (2.88 p/s) while fellow outside hitter Zana Bowens trails by one with 167 kills (3.07 p/s), and Aleisha Coates has accounted for 141 kills (2.47 p/s) over 54 sets. The team's pair of standout setters include Brooke Legaux with 315 assists and Jelena Jovanovic who holds a second-best of 276 assists. Additionally, defensive specialist Jacqueline Hutcheson (127 digs) and libero Maggie Eppright (260 digs) combine for nearly half of the team's total regular season digs. Bowens has also accounted for triple digit digs (153) and points (184), along with Coates who has 113 digs and scored 169.5 points.
National Team Status
The seventh Division I RPI (rating percentage index) of the 2015 season was released by the NCAA on Monday, Nov. 16 with Fresno State ranking No. 210 on a national platform. The 'Dogs remain ahead of two Mountain West programs including San Jose State (No. 211) and Utah State (No. 249). After concluding last year at 226, Fresno State saw its highest RPI in the first ranking during the 2015 season - Oct. 5 (171), Oct. 12 (177), Oct. 19 (182), Oct. 26 (186), Nov. 2 (189), Nov. 9 (205), Nov. 16 (210).
This week, Fresno State ranks among the top 100 programs in the nation in assists (No. 93, 1323), attacks (No. 79, 3938), attacks per set (No. 70, 36.46), kills (No. 55, 1474) and kills per set (No. 64, 13.65).
Individual NCAA Standings
For the eight consecutive week, libero Maggie Eppright and senior outside hitter Zana Bowens have remained in the NCAA individual national rankings. As of Nov. 16, Eppright captured the team's highest ranking of No. 45 in total digs (514) and No. 55 in digs per set (4.76) while Bowens holds a No. 145 ranking in total attacks (997).
Fighting Spirit Award
The Fighting Spirit Award was introduced to the Fresno State volleyball program by Netherby-Sewell in 2008. The award originated at Hofstra by Hall of Fame coach Fran Kalafer, and is presented to the individual or team who best defeats adversity each week and collectively at the season's end. Past season recipients include Allanah Munson and Baylee Platt (2008), Kelly Mason (2010), Korrin Wild (2012), Zana Bowens (2014) and the entire team in 2009, 2011 and 2013.
2015 Weekly Honors:
Western Carolina Tournament: Maggie Eppright, Zana Bowens
Cal Poly (home opener): Maggie Eppright, Carly Scarbrough, Brooke Legaux
Saint Mary's Tournament: Maggie Eppright, Carly Scarbrough, Jacqueline Hutcheson
Bulldog Showdown: Carly Scarbrough, Aleisha Coates
Fresno State Classic: Maggie Eppright, Taylor Slover, Carly Scarbrough, Jacqueline Hutcheson
Conference - Week One: None
Conference - Week Two: Entire Team
Conference - Week Three: Jelena Jovanovic, Sabrina Winslow, Zana Bowens
Conference - Week Four: Jacqueline Hutcheson, Gertu Vider, Aleisha Coates, Zana Bowens, Maggie Eppright
Conference - Week Five: Entire Team vs. UNLV and Aleksandra Simeonova, Aleisha Coates, Jacqueline Hutcheson vs. SJSU
Conference - Week Six: Team
Conference - Week Seven: None
Adopting the Bulldog Way
The 'Dogs opened the 2015 season with over half of the roster consisting of newcomers eager to make an impact and adopt the Bulldog culture. Poised with a competitive nature, the eight- person incoming class have added speed, ability and power. All active members of this season's roster have recorded time on the court as junior transfer Aleisha Coates paces the newcomers with an appearance in all but one set over 29 matches. As a Bulldog middle blocker Taylor Slover leads the freshmen class with 16 game-starts, followed by Gertu Vider with 10 including the 'Dogs past nine matches. Outside hitter Sabrina Winslow has competed in nearly half of the 108 sets played this season, along with additional freshmen contributors Brielle Hefner and Aleksandra Simeonova.
Returning Standouts
This year's returning lineup includes two seniors - Zana Bowens and Jelena Jovanovic, two juniors - Maggie Eppright and Brooke Legaux, and three sophomores - Lauren Torres, Jacqueline Hutcheson and Carly Scarbrough. All seven veterans contributed in over half of the 119 sets played in 2014, while Eppright and Scarbrough are the lone Bulldogs who have competed in all 108 sets over 29 matches so far this season.
Outside hitters, Scarbrough and Bowens account for the top two kill figures while setters, Legaux and Jovanovic own the team's largest statistics in in assists and assists per set. On defense, Eppright, Bowens, Legaux and Hutcheson have tallied triple-digit digs and sophomores Scarbrough and Torres combine for over half of the team's total blocks. Additionally, Bowens, Hutcheson, Eppright and Leagux have accounted for 82 of the team's 132 total service aces.
Career Milestones
Sophomores Jacqueline Hutcheson, Lauren Torres and Carly Scarbrough, junior setter Brooke Legaux and seniors Zana Bowens and Jelena Jovanovic have reset various personal career game-highs in the 29 games played during the 2015 season.
Hutcheson: 2 kills vs. Bethune Cookman (9/5), 6 assists vs. UC Davis (9/19), 20 digs vs. Boise State (10/29)
Torres: 13 kills vs. UNLV (10/20), 3 digs (2x, 10/20), .636 hitting percentage vs. SJSU (9/24), 8 blocks vs. Georgia State (8/29)
Jovanovic: 7 kills (2x, 10/10), 4 blocks vs. Utah State (10/1)
Scarbrough: 22 kills vs. Boise State (10/3), 2 assists vs. Boise State (10/29)
Legaux: 7 kills vs. Cal State Fullerton (9/11), 4 blocks vs. Cal Poly (9/1)
Bowens: 5 assists (2x, 9/19)
Red Wave Appreciation
Averaging nearly 1,000 fans per game, the Red Wave continues to positively contribute to Fresno State's home court success by continuing to create a difficult atmosphere for incoming teams to thrive in. The combination of the crowd's impact and the band's contribution makes for a memorable home game experience.
This season, Fresno State has consistently averaged over 600 fans per game at the Save Mart Center in the last 16 home games. The Bulldogs 2015 season-high attendance figure was 914 against UNLV on Oct. 20. For ticket information and prices visit, Volleyball Tickets.
Around Campus
Fresno State Athletics will host one visiting team each day this week while welcoming four separate teams to the Save Mart Center - men's basketball (Monday), women's basketball (Tuesday), volleyball (Wednesday), men's basketball (Thursday) and women's basketball (Friday). The week will be capped with the Western Band Association held all day at Bulldog Stadium Nov. 21-22. During next week's Thanksgiving break, both Bulldog basketball programs will compete at home as well as football versus Colorado State on Nov. 28, starting at 6 p.m.
2015 Coming to A Close
The 'Dogs non-conference tilt included a 2-1 opening weekend record at the Catamount Classic in Cullowhee, N.C. Fresno State fell 3-2 against Cal Poly during a thrilling home opener (Sept. 1), prior to tallying a 1-2 mark at the Saint Mary's Invitational. For the first time under Netherby-Sewell, the 'Dogs hosted back-to-back tournaments that included a second place finish at the Bulldog Invitational (3-1), before claiming first at the Fresno State Classic (2-1).
Fresno State opened Mountain West play at home against San Jose State on Sept. 24, and logged a 4-4 record in the first round of conference matches. The 'Dogs defeated Utah State (3-1) and Air Force (3-0) on the road while topping Nevada (3-0) and UNLV (3-2) at the Save Mart Center. At the conclusion of the eight-game halfway mark, Fresno State was positioned sixth in the conference standings with a winning percentage of .545 on the season.
2015 Weekly Recognition
All-Tournament Honors
Western Carolina Tournament (Aug. 29) - Maggie Eppright, Brooke Legaux
Bulldog Showdown (Sept. 12) - Carly Scarbrough, Aleisha Coates
Fresno State Classic (Sept. 19) - Maggie Eppright, Carly Scarbrough (MVP)
Fresno State Student-Athlete of the Week
Sept. 21 - Carly Scarbrough
Aug. 31 - Maggie Eppright
About the 'Dogs
Currently in her eighth season at the helm of the Bulldog volleyball program, Lauren Netherby-Sewell captured her 100th victory on Oct. 1 over the Aggies in Logan, Utah. The San Clemente, Calif., native has compiled a 105-130 record at Fresno State and owns a 149-152 overall mark after a two-year stint as the head coach at Hofstra (43-19, 26-6 CAA). Netherby-Sewell has inspired record crowds and developed a team focused on fundamentals and primed to excel as she continues to lead a traditionally strong program.
The 'Dogs 15-person roster includes 10 California natives, six Central Valley athletes, one Florida local and three members from abroad. The 'Dogs added seven freshmen and one junior transfer with a high talent level and eagerness to make an impact during the 2015 season. The team strives by its mantra of outworking, outthinking and outplaying all opponents while displaying integrity, discipline, loyalty, courageousness, hard work and vigor.
In addition to the newcomers, the Bulldogs welcomed a new assistant coach to the fold in February of 2015. Sarah Chlebana joins assistant coach Joe Skinner under Netherby-Sewell, heavily equipped with experience and knowledge of the game. The first-year volleyball director of operations position was filled by one of the program's most talented alumni, Korrin Wild, who graduated in 2013 and continued her career professionally overseas.
Academic Achievements
The `Dogs were among an all-time record breaking 753 teams who earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2014-15 season. The Bulldog volleyball program boasts a six-year consecutive streak being awarded for their academic excellence due to hard work and dedication in the classroom, consistently maintaining a +3.30 team cumulative GPA.
In addition to the team recognition, 12 Bulldogs earned individual academic all-conference honors at the conclusion of the 2014 season and have earned 33 All-MW accolades in just a three-year stent as a member of the Mountain West. Fresno State has led the league in academic accolades for the past two seasons and displayed an impressive team GPA of 3.49 for the combined fall and spring academic terms.
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