Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UC Irvine
Bulldogs welcome Anteaters to Fresno for final non-conference contest
9/14/2016 11:20:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Thursday, Sept. 15
Fresno State (8-2) vs. UC Irvine (3-7) -- 6 p.m.
Location: Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
Live Stats
Live Video (Mountain West Network)
Radio (790 AM ESPN)
Promotion: Garth Brooks Ticket Giveaway! It is also Staff & Facultly Appreciation Night as there is free admission for all Fresno State staff and faculty.
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Bulldogs sweep exhibition over crosstown rival Fresno PacificÂ
In front of a boisterous crowd at the Save Mart Center on Monday evening, the Bulldogs swept crosstown rival Fresno Pacific in an exhibition taking sets over the Sunbirds 25-19, 25-21, 21-17. Senior outside hitter Aleisha Coates led the team with 14 kills and sophomore outside hitter Brielle Hefner added 10 kills. Haile Watson and Carly Scarbrough added eight and seven kills, respectively as the 'Dogs edged FPU 48-33 in kills. Maggie Eppright added 10 digs and Maddie Halteman pitched in 39 assists.
Eppright earns Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors
The first Bulldog to garner an individual Mountain West weekly player of the week honor since Oct. 14, 2013 (Maci Murdock), senior libero Maggie Eppright earned her first career Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honor on Monday for her performance at the UIW Cardinal Classic. In the 'Dogs three matches, all three-set sweeps, Eppight averaged 4.67 digs per set and added four service aces and a perfect 1.000 reception percentage.Â
Fresno State Series History vs. UC Irvine
This will be the 26th all-time meeting for the Bulldogs against UC Irvine as the 'Dogs lead the series 15-10 having won five of the last six dating back to 1991. The 'Dogs won the most recent match on Sept. 21, 2013 winning 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 26-24, 26-24) in a highly-contested contest at the UC Irvine Tournament. Eppright finished the match with 27 digs as all four sets were decided by a pair of points.
A look at the UC Irvine Anteaters
UC Irvine is off to a 3-7 start to the season, but half of its 10 opponents are from Power 5 conferences, including three ranked Pac-12 foes (USC, UCLA, Colorado). The Anteaters have also played #15 San Diego and now-ranked #17 Santa Clara along with Washington State and Cal. The Anteaters swept then-ranked #7 USC on Aug. 27 and defeated MW opponent San Diego State in five sets on Sept. 7. UC Irvine ranks second in the Big West in assists (441) and are third in kills (467), service aces (47) and attacks (1,266). Redshirt senior OH Victoria Dennis ranks in the top five in the conference in kills per set (3rd-3.84), total kills (4th-142), total attacks (5th-349) & points per set (5th-4.24).
'Dogs out to one of program's best 10-match starts
Off to its best start to a season in 14 years, the 'Dogs 8-2 record is the best since starting 9-1 in 2002. It is the eighth time in program history the 'Dogs are 8-2 or better after 10 matches.
1971 - 8-2Â Â Â 1996 - 8-2
1976 - 9-1Â Â Â 1998 - 10-0
1991 - 8-2Â Â Â 2002 - 9-1
1995 - 9-1Â Â Â 2016 - 8-2
Eppright moves into second place on all-time digs list in Bulldog history
Midway through Friday's match against Texas Southern, Maggie Eppright moved into second place on the all-time list in digs passing Diana Nalbandian (1994-97). The San Luis Obispo native now has 135 digs through her first 10 matches of 2016 to give her 1,507 in her career and sits 357 shy of reaching the top mark held by Tricia Tuley (1993-96) of 1,864.
Eppright closing in on Top 10 all-time in career digs in Mountain West history
In addition to moving into second place all-time in digs in program history, Eppright is closing in on joining the Mountain West top 10 all-time list. She sits 272 digs shy of moving into fifth-place (Allison Davies, UNLV, 2011-14) and 351 away from third place.
Where the 'Dogs rank as a team in the Mountain West
After three weeks of play, the Bulldogs find themselves among the MW leaders in a number of statistics. They lead the MW and rank 9th in the nation in service aces with 76. The 'Dogs also lead the league and rank 34th nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.154). Fresno State is tied for second in hitting percentage (.254) and is fifth in kills (449).
Bulldogs among the leaders in the Mountain West
Individually, a number of Bulldogs find themselves in the top 10 in the Mountain West as Jacqueline Hutcheson leads the conference in service aces with 19. Watson is third in hitting percentage (.402), Coates is sixth in kills (129), Halteman is sixth in assists (329) and Eppright is seventh in digs (135).
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 -- Aleisha Coates, Eppright, Carly Scarbrough, Jacqueline Hutcheson, Gertu Vider
Fresno Pacific -- Coates, Eppright, Hutcheson
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