Fresno State Athletics
Friday, August 26
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
4:30 PM PT
Fresno State
1-0
3
vs
2
LIU Brooklyn
0-2
1
2
3
4
5
F
Fresno State
16
25
23
25
15
3
LIU Brooklyn
25
16
25
21
9
2
'Dogs top LIU Brooklyn in five sets in wild season opener
8/26/2016 9:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Fresno State volleyball team opened the season on Friday evening with a hard-fought five-set victory over LIU Brooklyn in its first match of the Boston College Invitational. The Bulldogs won the second, fourth and fifth sets (16-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21 15-9) of the match to give the 'Dogs their sixth season-opening victory in the past nine years.
"We battled nerves out of the gate against a team who already had a match under their belt earlier today," said head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell. "It was encouraging to see our resilience. LIU plays a different game with high balls to the pins and tons of shots and we had a hard time adjusting to that. They put some strain on us early with the serve, but once we settled down, Maddy did a great job of getting our offense going."
Overall, Fresno State (1-0) had four players finish with double-digit kills as senior outside hitter Aleisha Coates recorded a double-double leading the 'Dogs with 16 kills and added 10 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Haile Watson made her Bulldog debut with 11 kills, had a hitting percentage of .500 and was apart of four blocks. Lauren Torres and Carly Scarbrough each had 10 kills apiece and Maggie Eppright led the club with 12 digs. Redshirt freshman setter Madelyn Halteman made her Bulldog debut posting a double-double with 51 assists and 11 digs.
"Haile Watson was a total animal and is highly athletic and adaptable," added Netherby-Sewell on her athletic newcomer. "It was also really nice to have another defensive specialist in Courtney Johnson and she helped our ball control and settled our defense down. Aleisha was a high-scorer for us which we need."
After dropping the first set, the 'Dogs rebounded in the second set with a 25-16 set victory notching 13 kills and limited LIU Brooklyn (0-2) to a .087 hitting percentage. With the 'Dogs leading the third set 18-12, the Blackbirds were able to stifle the Bulldog offense storming back for a 25-23 win. The 'Dogs rebounded with 25-21 victory in set four getting 16 kills to force a fifth set. After going 2-5 in five-set matches in 2015, the 'Dogs jumped out to an early 5-1 after a kill from Halteman. Back-to-back kills from Watson put the Bulldogs ahead 11-5 as the 'Dogs went on to seal their first win of 2016.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday evening as they take on host Boston College at 4:30 p.m. PT in Power Gym.
"Boston College will pose a challenge tomorrow, but they are more similar to us. We will need to execute better," added Netherby-Sewell.
Boston College defeated LIU Brooklyn 3-1 earlier in the day and the two teams will meet again at 10 a.m. PT on Saturday.Â
"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.
Follow us on:
Twitter:Â @FresnoStateVB
Instagram:Â FresnoStatevball
Facebook:Â FresnoStateAthletics
Snap Chat:Â FSAthletics
Â
"We battled nerves out of the gate against a team who already had a match under their belt earlier today," said head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell. "It was encouraging to see our resilience. LIU plays a different game with high balls to the pins and tons of shots and we had a hard time adjusting to that. They put some strain on us early with the serve, but once we settled down, Maddy did a great job of getting our offense going."
Overall, Fresno State (1-0) had four players finish with double-digit kills as senior outside hitter Aleisha Coates recorded a double-double leading the 'Dogs with 16 kills and added 10 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Haile Watson made her Bulldog debut with 11 kills, had a hitting percentage of .500 and was apart of four blocks. Lauren Torres and Carly Scarbrough each had 10 kills apiece and Maggie Eppright led the club with 12 digs. Redshirt freshman setter Madelyn Halteman made her Bulldog debut posting a double-double with 51 assists and 11 digs.
"Haile Watson was a total animal and is highly athletic and adaptable," added Netherby-Sewell on her athletic newcomer. "It was also really nice to have another defensive specialist in Courtney Johnson and she helped our ball control and settled our defense down. Aleisha was a high-scorer for us which we need."
After dropping the first set, the 'Dogs rebounded in the second set with a 25-16 set victory notching 13 kills and limited LIU Brooklyn (0-2) to a .087 hitting percentage. With the 'Dogs leading the third set 18-12, the Blackbirds were able to stifle the Bulldog offense storming back for a 25-23 win. The 'Dogs rebounded with 25-21 victory in set four getting 16 kills to force a fifth set. After going 2-5 in five-set matches in 2015, the 'Dogs jumped out to an early 5-1 after a kill from Halteman. Back-to-back kills from Watson put the Bulldogs ahead 11-5 as the 'Dogs went on to seal their first win of 2016.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday evening as they take on host Boston College at 4:30 p.m. PT in Power Gym.
"Boston College will pose a challenge tomorrow, but they are more similar to us. We will need to execute better," added Netherby-Sewell.
Boston College defeated LIU Brooklyn 3-1 earlier in the day and the two teams will meet again at 10 a.m. PT on Saturday.Â
"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.
Follow us on:
Twitter:Â @FresnoStateVB
Instagram:Â FresnoStatevball
Facebook:Â FresnoStateAthletics
Snap Chat:Â FSAthletics
Â
Team Stats
FS
LIUBKN
Kills
64
53
Errors
26
17
Attempts
145
137
Hitting %
.262
.263
Points
81.0
70.0
Assists
56
50
Aces
9
1
Blocks
8.0
16.0
Game Leaders
Kills
16
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballMB
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