'Dogs kick off season with four-game East Coast trip

Friday, August 26

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

4:30 PM PT

Fresno State

LIU Brooklyn

'Dogs kick off season with four-game East Coast trip

8/24/2016 2:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Weekly Release Mountain West Release

By: Travis Blanshan / Assistant Director of Communications

Boston College Invitational
Friday, Aug. 26
LIU Brooklyn vs. Fresno State – 4:30 p.m. (PT)
Saturday, Aug. 27
Fresno State at Boston College – 4:30 p.m. (PT)

Location: Boston, Mass.
Arena: PowerGym
Host: Boston College
Live Stats

Hartford
Sunday, Aug. 28 – 1:00 p.m. (PT)
Arena: Hartford Volleyball Gym (West Hartford, Conn.)
Live Stats
Live Video

New Hampshire
Monday, Aug. 29 – 4:00 p.m. (PT)
Arena: Lundholm Gymnasium (Durham, N.H.)
Live Stats

Bulldog Outlook
The Fresno State volleyball team opens its 53^rd season this weekend, competing in a pair of matches at the Boston College Invitational in Boston, Mass. The action will kick off on Friday evening as the 'Dogs take on LIU Brooklyn (4:30 p.m.) and will face host Boston College on Saturday evening at 4:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will then travel to Hartford to face the Hawks on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and wrap up their east coast trip on Monday with a match at New Hampshire set for 4:00 p.m.

"We are going to play good teams on this east coast swing," said head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell. "Hopefully, we'll settle into our game while we are there and get comfortable as we are playing four straight games in four days. I'm looking forward to getting away, being together and getting to bond a little bit more while allowing the team to compete in an atmosphere in which they can relax and play volleyball. We'll learn a lot about ourselves this trip and will hopefully play well."

Fresno State, who went 3-8 in road matches and 2-2 in neutral site matches in 2015, returns nine letter winners from a year ago with three seniors, three juniors and three sophomores returning to the lineup. The 'Dogs add four newcomers to the 14-person roster with setter Madelyn Halteman coming off a redshirt season and add a pair of Division I transfers in Haile Watson (Eastern Washington) and Aubrey Folk (Tulane). Finally, the Bulldogs welcome a pair of freshman in Courtney Johnson and Montez Uigaese to the fold to round out the squad.

A look at the Bulldog opponents
Fresno State will open its season against LIU Brooklyn, a member of the Northeast Conference. Under second-year head coach Ken Ko, the Blackbirds went 14-14 in 2015, including a 12-2 mark in the NEC to claim the regular season title. This will be the 'Dogs first match against LIU Brooklyn as the Blackbirds were picked to finish second in this season's NEC preseason poll. The Blackbirds return senior setter Nicole Hopton who led the club with 675 assists in 2015 along with senior middle blocker Mengdi Zhao who started all 28 games a year ago and finished the season with 248 attacks.

The 'Dogs will close out their time at the Boston College Invitational facing host Boston College on Saturday night. It will the two teams second matchup all-time after the 'Dogs claimed a 3-0 win at home on November 29, 1986. The Eagles, members of the ACC, went 12-20 in 2015 finishing 4-16 to tie for 12th in the conference. Under seventh-year head coach Chris Campbell, the Eagles return junior outside hitter Sol Calvete who appeared in 121 sets and finished second on the club with 309 kills and 926 attacks last year. The Eagles also return seniors Madisen Lydon who led the team with 444 digs and Julia Topor who added 59 blocks.

The Bulldogs will then venture to West Hartford, Conn., to face the Hartford Hawks out of the America East Conference on Sunday. The Hawks went 2-27 a year ago finishing 1-11 in the AEC to tie for sixth with UMass Lowell. In his second-year as the head coach, Mitch Kallick returns a number of experienced players with sophomore Paulina Modestow returning after leading the team in kills (266), attacks (884) and ranked second in digs (205). It will be the two teams' first meeting.

The four-game road trip will wrap up for the Bulldogs on Monday with a match against New Hampshire also out of the AEC. The Wildcats are coming off a 21-9 mark in 2015 and tied with Albany for the AEC regular season title. UNH defeated Albany 3-1 for the AEC tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they faced SEC power Florida. With 21-year head coach Jill Hirschinger at the helm, the Wildcats were selected second in the AEC preseason poll and return three seniors and three juniors to an experienced squad. This will be the second all-time meeting between the two programs after facing each other for the first time in 2014 on a neutral court at St. John's with the 'Dogs claiming a 3-1 victory.

Five Key Returners from 2015

The 'Dogs return five players from 2015 who appeared in all 32 games a season ago. Seniors Brooke Legaux, Maggie Eppright and Aleisha Coates along with juniors Carly Scarbrough and Jackie Hutcheson were regulars in the Bulldog lineup and key contributors for Fresno State. That group provides great experience heading into this season as they combined for 733 kills, 1,018 sets and 1,277 digs in 2015.

2015 Summary

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 head coach Lauren 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.

The Bulldogs finised the second round of Mountain West play with a pair of victories coming against Utah State and Air Force. Fresno State faced its toughest portion of the 2015 schedule during the final week, after taking on two of the top three conference leaders including Wyoming and conference champion Colorado State.

2015 Set Breakdown

Fresno State competed in 16 three-set matches in 2015 logging a 10-6 (4-4 MW) record overall. The 'Dogs were 2-7 (1-4 MW) in four-sets and 2-5 (1-4 MW) in five-set battles last season.

Bulldog leaders in 2015

Bulldog senior libero Maggie Eppright led the Mountain West and set a new single-season program record with 573 digs (4.82 p/s) in 2015 to finish 40th in the nation. Setter Brooke Legaux ranked sixth in assists (848, 7.50 p/s) and outside hitter Carly Scarbrough ranked in the top 10 with 339 kills (2.85p/s).

As a team, the Bulldogs ranked in the top five in the Mountain West in 10 categories, leading the league in team digs (1,788) and total team attacks (4,383). They finished second in team kills (1,617), team attacks per set (36.83) and digs per set (15.03). The 'Dogs were third in the MW in assists per set (12.33), kills per set (13.59) and team assists (1,455) and fifth in aces per set (1.19) and team service aces (142).

Coaching Profiles
Lauren Netherby-Sewell enters her ninth season at the helm of the Bulldog volleyball program after reaching the century mark in wins in 2015 and currently sports a record of 105-133 at Fresno State and 149-155 overall, having spent two years at Hofstra. Of the seven head coaches in program history, Netherby-Sewell owns the third most wins as she continues to chart the `Dogs ascent as a member of the Mountain West.

In her eight seasons at Fresno State, Netherby-Sewell has had a tremendous impact on Bulldog volleyball while relying on a tried and true formula emphasizing fighting spirit, dedication and teamwork. She has inspired record crowds and developed a team focused on fundamentals and primed to excel by upgrading the Bulldogs' non-conference schedule and restoring the community's passion for a traditionally strong program.

In 2015, the Bulldogs seized the third-best Mountain West finish and fourth highest win figure since 2008 while nearly doubling the amount of victories logged the previous year. Netherby-Sewell led Fresno State to a 14-win season, as the `Dogs were victorious in eight of the 14 non-conference matches, accounting for six three-set sweeps along the stretch.

Sarah Chelbana enters her second year as an assistant coach and Jose Lugo enters his first year on the sideline for the 'Dogs. Chelbana was an assistant coach at Sacramento State for seven years before arriving at Fresno State and Lugo comes to the Bulldogs after serving as a volunteer assistant coach at Arizona State in 2015. Prior to that, he served as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University and a three-year stint at Dartmouth College. He has also served as a pipeline coach with USA Volleyball and is a nine-year club coaching veteran.

Season Openers Under Netherby-Sewell

The Bulldogs are 5-3 in season openers under Netherby-Sewell with wins in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. It will be the fourth time in the last five years that the 'Dogs have started the season on the road after opening at UTEP (2012), Rice (2014) and Western Carolina (2015) over the past five seasons.

'Dogs selected eighth in MW in preseason poll

Fresno State was selected eighth in the Mountain West preseason poll releasesd on August 17 after finishing eighth in the league in 2015. Seven-time defending champion Colorado State was selected the preseason favorite with 96 points followed by Boise State with 92 points. Wyoming, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV and Nevada were 3-7 followed by the Bulldogs as Utah State, San Jose State and Air Force rounded out the poll.

Junior outside hitter Sierra Nobley from Boise State was selected the MW Preseason Player of the Year as a pair of her Bronco teammates, Maddy O'Donnell and Maddi Osburn, joined her on the MW Preseason Team. Alexandra Poletto from Colorado State, Bree Hammel and Alexis Patterson from UNLV and Laura Beach from Wyoming rounded out the selections.

Academic Achievements

The `Dogs were among an all-time record breaking 762 teams who earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2015-16 season. The Bulldog volleyball program boasts a Mountain West-best seven-year consecutive streak of 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, 10 Bulldogs earned individual academic all-conference honors at the conclusion of the 2015 season and overall the Bulldogs have earned 43 All-MW accolades in a four-year stint as a member of the Mountain West. In addition, five student-athletes earned Mountain West Scholar-Athlete Honors and the team displayed an impressive team GPA of 3.38 for the combined fall and spring academic terms.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – Season tickets, mini plans and single-game tickets for the 2016 Fresno State football season are now on sale at GoBulldogs.com or by calling 559-278-3647. 940 AM ESPN Radio and 1600 AM ESPN Deportes is the official home of the Fresno State Bulldogs.

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