Volleyball plays final road match Wednesday at #24 Colorado State

Wednesday, November 15

Fort Collins, CO

6:00 PM PT

Fresno State

#24 Colorado State

Volleyball plays final road match Wednesday at #24 Colorado State

11/13/2017 2:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Fresno State at #24 Colorado State
Nov. 15, 2017 • 6:00 PM PST • Moby Arena (8,745) • Fort Collins, Colo.
TV: Stadium OTT
Video: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History: CSU leads 13-8

Complete Match Notes (PDF)

Scouting #24 Colorado State (25-3, 15-1 MW)
• Colorado State, which was ranked No. 19 in the country last week, started MW play 15-0 before a five-set loss at San Jose State last Saturday. CSU had gone 25-1 since losing its season opener.
• The Rams have won 19 matches in three sets while all three of their losses have come in five sets.
• Colorado State clinched the MW title and the league's NCAA Tournament berth on Nov. 4.
• The Rams lead the league in every statistical category other than digs and rank in the top 25 in NCAA Div. I in hitting percentage (6th), blocks per set (14th), and assists per set (25th).
• Paulina Hougaard-Jensen is 3rd in the nation hitting .464 and Katie Oleksak is third in Div. I with 12.05 assists per set. Kristie Hillyer leads the MW in blocks per set and Sanja Cizmic leads in aces.
• The Rams have won eight straight matches and 10 of the last 11 meetings with Fresno State.

Wire-to-Wire Win
• Fresno State never trailed in a dominant 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-23) home sweep of New Mexico last Thursday.
• The match was tied five times but the Lobos never took a lead in any of the three sets. The 'Dogs led for the entirety of the first set while there were just two ties in the second set and three in the third.
• Fresno State put together its first sweep in MW play and third 3-0 win overall this year.

Block Party
• Entering the week Fresno State leads the Mountain West and is 14th in NCAA Div. I with 289.5 blocks this season. The 'Dogs average of 2.81 blocks per set is also second best in the league and 16th in the nation.
• The team's 289.5 total blocks is third most in a season in the rally scoring era (2001-pres.). The 'Dogs are just 26.5 blocks behind the single season program record of 316.0 blocks, set in 2003.
• The Bulldogs have had the same or more blocks than their opponent in 12 Mountain West matches, averaging 2.99 blocks per set in league play.
• Fresno State has recorded double-digit blocks in 15 matches this year, including nine of the last 14, and has had more blocks than its opponent 16 times. The team had 19.0 blocks Nov. 3 at Air Force, second most this season behind the three-set program-record 21.0 blocks vs. CSU Bakersfield.
• Haile Watson and Lauren Torres are both averaging better than 1.10 blocks per set this season while Taylor Slover, Aubrey Folk, Brielle Hefner, and Montez Uigaese average better than half a block.

Nearing 1,000
• Senior libero Jacqueline Hutcheson has 967 career digs with three matches left to play. She needs just 33 digs (11 per match) over the last three to become the 10th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs.
• A starting libero for the first time as a senior, Hutcheson has averaged 3.76 digs per set and 14.33 digs per match in her final collegiate season.

Big Time Blocker
• Junior Haile Watson leads all MW players averaging 1.41 blocks per set in conference matches. Overall this season she ranks 26th in NCAA Div. I with 136 total blocks and is 32nd with 1.32 blocks per set. She has recorded at least five blocks in 16 matches this year and her blocks per set average would be the fifth best in a season in program history.
• Watson became the first player in program history to tally 10 blocks in a three-set match, topping the previous record of nine achieved twice, on Sept. 5 vs. CSU Bakersfield. She set a new career-high with 12 blocks at Air Force, tying for the second most blocks in a five-set match in program history.

Home Cooking
• Fresno State is 5-3 at home this season averaging 3.35 blocks per set on its home floor, tallying at least 12.0 blocks in six of the eight home matches.
• The 'Dogs have outblocked their opponents 104-62 at home while outhitting the opposition .219-.177 over 31 home sets.

Strong Support
• Fresno State ranks fourth in the Mountain West averaging 798 fans over eight official home dates.
• Factoring in the 1,297 fans that saw the exhibition match vs. Fresno Pacific, the 'Dogs home average would be 853 fans per game, which would be the third highest average among conference teams.

Super Serving
• Freshman Sydney Lostumo is tied for third in the Mountain West averaging 0.33 service aces per set this season with 18 total aces in just 15 matches played.
• She has had at least one ace in nine of 15 league matches and multiple aces five times. Since making her collegiate debut starting in the 'Dogs MW opener at Boise State Lostumo has also averaged 4.93 assists and 1.24 digs per set.

Success in the SMC
• Dating back to last season the Bulldogs have won seven of their last 10 home matches.
• The squad has had a winning home record in each of the last two years and in five of the last six seasons.

A Season on the Road
• Fresno State has played 19 matches away from Fresno this season (14 road and five neutral) compared to just eight official home matches.
• No other MW team has played fewer than 11 home matches; Colorado State leads the league having played 17 home matches.
• The Bulldogs started the season with 13 of their first 14 official matches played outside of Fresno. The team was on the road for five consecutive weeks to start the year and had just one official home match over the first 34 days of the season.

Going Long
• Fresno State played nine straight matches that went at least four sets, a new program record, over a month from Sept. 23 until a 3-set match on Oct. 26. The previous high was eight straight 4+ set matches in 2003.
• Of the team's 27 matches this season, 16 have gone four or more sets. Just one of the 'Dogs first 10 MW contests was completed in only three sets.

Happy Homecoming
• Playing in her home state, Aubrey Folk had a career-high 17 kills while hitting a season-best .406 at New Mexico on Oct. 14.
• The Aztec, N.M. native totaled 11 kills over the last two sets with six in the third set to help force the fourth. She had 11 kills and no errors in 21 swings over the last two sets for a .524 hitting percentage.

Beating Tournament Teams
• Fresno State picked up its second win this season against a 2016 NCAA Tournament Team with a 3-2 victory at UNLV Oct. 12. The Rebels reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season with an at-large bid and a win in the opening round.
• The Bulldogs also had a 3-1 win over Alabama State earlier this season, beating a Lady Hornets team that won the SWAC last season to earn an NCAA bid.

6-2 Shift
• Fresno State changed to a 6-2 lineup the second week of MW play with sophomore Madelyn Halteman and freshman Sydney Lostumo splitting time as setter.
• The two have combined for 9.57 assists per set with 27 service aces in the 13 matches with the formation. Both setters have averaged better than 4.30 assists per set and 0.20 aces per set.

Brielle Hitting Well
• Junior Brielle Hefner has been a consistent offensive threat all season as she leads the team's outside hitters swinging .238 and is second with 2.59 kills per set.
• Hefner had her best match at San Francisco, recording a career-high 25 kills while hitting .404. She had 13 kills and no errors on her first 26 swings of the match as she more than doubled her previous career high of 12 kills and tied for the most kills by a Bulldog this season.

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