Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
San Diego State
Road trip to SDSU & Nevada on deck for the 'Dogs
10/5/2016 7:55:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Thursday, Oct. 6
Fresno State (10-5, 1-3 MW) at San Diego State (10-7, 2-1 MW) -- 6 p.m. PT
Location: San Diego, Calif. (Peterson Gym)
Live Stats
Live Video (Mountain West Network)
Saturday, Oct. 8
Fresno State (10-5, 1-3 MW) at Nevada (11-4, 2-1 MW) -- 12 p.m. PT
Location: Reno, Nev. (Virginia Street Gym)
Live Stats
Live Video (Mountain West Network)
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Bulldogs sweep New Mexico for first Mountain West victory
After being the first team to push UNLV to five sets this season last Thursday, the 'Dogs rebounded on Saturday sweeping New Mexico (25-18, 25-20, 25-21) to pick up their first MW victory of the season. Senior outside hitter Aleisha Coates led the 'Dogs with 15 kills for her sixth contest this season with 15+ kills. Sophomore Brielle Hefner added 10 kills as the Bulldogs posted a .302 attack percentage as a team. Senior libero Maggie Eppright added a team-high 13 digs to post her 13th match of the season with double-digit digs and Maddy Halteman and Brooke Legaux combined for 39 of the 'Dogs 44 assists.
Dogs vs. San Diego State Series History
Thursday's match at San Diego State will be the 44th meeting all-time between the two programs. The 'Dogs, who are 12-29-2 against the Aztecs, have dropped seven of the eight contests vs. SDSU since joining the MW in 2012 and have yet to win in San Diego. Fresno State pushed the Aztecs to five sets at home in 2015 behind 17 kills from Carly Scarbrough and Eppright added 26 digs as the 'Dogs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set. The 'Dogs longest winning streak over SDSU was a six-match stretch from 1997 through 2004.
A look at the SDSU Aztecs
The Aztecs are off to a 10-7 start to the season and a 2-1 mark in the Mountain West. SDSU opened conference play at home with a five set win over Utah State and also swept Air Force on the road last week. In non-conference play, the Aztecs were 9-6 with five sweeps and faced three opponents from Power 5 conferences (Michigan State, Oregon and Notre Dame) along with #7 San Diego. As a team, SDSU ranks fourth in the MW in assists per set (12.38) and team kills (831) along with being sixth in digs (825), attacks (2,060) and total blocks (129.5). Sophomore middle blocker Deja Harris leads the MW and ranks 20th nationally in hitting percentage (.408) and setter Indigo Thompson in ninth in the MW in assists per set (9.00).
Bulldogs vs. Nevada History
Another very familiar foe for the Bulldogs, Saturday's match vs. the Wolf Pack in Reno will be the 49th meeting all-time as the two programs are an even 24-24 all-time against one another. The 'Dogs swept Nevada at home last season as Scarbrough had nine kills, Eppright added 14 digs and Taylor Slover totaled a solo block and six block assists. The 'Dogs are 5-3 against Nevada since joining the MW in 2012 and are 2-2 in Reno.
A look at the Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada, who hosts San Jose St. on Thursday, is currently 11-4 with a 2-1 mark in the MW. The Wolf Pack dropped a five-set match at home to Utah State on Sept. 22, but rebounded last weekend on the road defeating both Air Force and Boise State in four sets apiece. Posting a 9-3 mark in non-conference play, the Wolf Pack opened the season with back-to-back losses to North Texas & Texas A&M, but bounced back to win nine of its next 10 matches completing four sweeps over that stretch. The Wolf Pack rank second as a club in the MW in aces per set (1.41) and team hitting percentage (.256) along with being fourth in kills per set (13.20). Â Individually, senior Madison Morrell leads the Wolf Pack ranking in the top five in the MW in five categories checking in second in kils per set (4.22), third in kills (249), points (280) and points per set (4.75) & is fifth in attacks per set (9.59).
Fresno State ranks fifth in the nation in service aces per set
Through the first two weeks of Mountain West play, the 'Dogs lead the MW and rank 5th in the nation in service aces per set (2.02). The Bulldogs also lead the MW in aces (109 - 17th in the nation), rank third in hitting percentage (.238), seventh in opponent hitting percentage (.199) and are 8th in kills per set (12.70).
Eppright moves into the Top 10 all-time in career digs in Mountain West history
Senior libero Maggie Eppright moved into the Mountain West top 10 all-time list in digs on Saturday. She now has 1,580 career digs and with 14 matches remaining in the regular season, she is 199 digs shy of moving into fifth-place, currently held by Allison Davies (UNLV, 2011-14) on the all-time list.
Eppright looks to maintain a hold on the career digs per set record
Eppright moved into 2nd place on the all-time list in program history in digs on 9/9 passing Diana Nalbandian (94-97). She currrently trails all-time digs leader Tricia Tuley (93-96) by 284, but Eppright does currently hold a slight edge over Tuley in one career category as the senior enters this week with a 3.90 digs per set career mark to top Tuley's current program-best mark of 3.89. Tuley had 1,864 digs in 479 career sets.
NCAA Volleyball RPI rankings released Monday
The first NCAA Volleyball RPI rankings of the season were released on Monday & the 'Dogs checked in 7th in the MW at 115. The MW has six teams in the top 100 & Fresno St. has played four teams in the top 100 and will play two more this week as SDSU is 77th and Nevada is 99th. The Bulldogs are 9-1 against lower-ranked teams and has have claimed 27 of the 33 sets sweeping seven of those opponents.
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.Â
Weekly Honors
Boston College Invitational/Hartford/New Hampshire -- Team
Bulldog Showdown -- Maggie Eppright
UIW Cardinal Classic -- Eppright, Aleisha Coates, Carly Scarbrough, Jacqueline Hutcheson, Gertu Vider
Fresno Pacific -- Eppright, Cotaes, Hutcheson
at Colorado State/Wyoming -- Eppright, Hutcheson, Haile Watson
vs. UNLV/New Mexico -- Coates, Eppright, Hutcheson, Maddy Halteman, Brooke Legaux, Taylor Slover, Brielle Hefner
Head Coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell on this week's Fighting Spirit Winners
"I liked our performances as a team last week. We missed an opportunity against UNLV, but played a good team really tight. Against New Mexico, we just kept chipping away and I was proud to see how we came out of the locker room after set two ready to close the door on that match. I thought our setters stood out to me because I saw some improvements this week and more confidence led to steady play. Aleisha is giving us the same attitude and effort day in and day out, no matter the circumstances. Maggie and Jacque are being solid and steady for us and always find ways to make a positive impact on the game. Taylor has come in two matches in a row making BIG plays for us off the bench which is a hard role to play and finally Brielle is just a steady competitor. She goes for it and isn't afraid which is something we love about her.Â
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