Volleyball plays three of last four at home; hosts New Mexico Thursday

Thursday, November 9

Fresno, CA

7:00 PM

Fresno State

New Mexico

Tickets

Volleyball plays three of last four at home; hosts New Mexico Thursday

11/7/2017 11:13:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

New Mexico at Fresno State
Nov. 9, 2017 • 7:00 PM • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Video: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History: New Mexico Leads 14-11
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Scouting New Mexico (14-13, 6-8 MW)
• New Mexico had a three-match winning streak halted by a 3-1 home loss to Nevada in its last match. The streak came after losing six of seven, but the team has won two straight on the road.
• The Lobos are tied with Utah State and Boise State for sixth place in the MW. The team plays three of its last four conference matches on the road and is 3-3 in road MW play so far this year.
• For the season New Mexico leads the league with 14.96 digs per set but is last in the MW and second to last in NCAA Div. I averaging just 0.85 aces per set. Lauren Twitty ranks third in the league with 3.91 kills per set and Carson Heilborn is third with 9.48 assists per set on the year.
• In the first meeting between the teams New Mexico had 12.0 blocks and out-hit the 'Dogs .246-.128 in a 3-1 win. The Lobos have won two straight and four of the last five vs. the 'Dogs.

Block Party
• Entering the week Fresno State leads the Mountain West and is 11th in NCAA Div. I with 280.5 blocks this season. The 'Dogs average of 2.81 blocks per set is also second best in the league and 17th in the nation.
• The team's 280.5 total blocks is fourth most in a season in the rally scoring era (2001-pres.). The 'Dogs are just 35.5 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 11 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 13, and has had more blocks than its opponent 15 times. The team had 19.0 blocks last Friday 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.

Home Cooking
• Fresno State is 4-3 at home this season averaging 3.39 blocks per set on its home floor, tallying at least 12.0 blocks in six of the seven home matches.
• The 'Dogs have outblocked their opponents 95.0-57.0 at home while outhitting the opposition .210-.177 over 28 home sets.

Big Time Blocker
• Junior Haile Watson set a new career-high with 12 blocks against Air Force last Friday. She tied for the second most blocks in a five-set match in program history, tallying nine blocks over just the third and fourth sets to help the 'Dogs force a fifth set.
• For the season Watson ranks 18th in NCAA Div. I with 131 total blocks. She has recorded at least five blocks in 15 matches this year and for the season ranks third in the Mountain West with 1.31 blocks per set. That average would be the fifth best single-season mark 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 had four solo blocks, including a stuff on match point, to lead the Bulldogs to a win.

Strong Support
• Fresno State ranks fourth in the Mountain West averaging 789 fans over seven official home dates.
• Factoring in the 1,297 fans that saw the exhibition match vs. Fresno Pacific, the 'Dogs home average would be 852 fans per game, which would be the third highest average among conference teams.

Super Serving
• Freshman Sydney Lostumo ranks third in the Mountain West averaging 0.35 service aces per set this season with 18 total aces in 14 matches played.
• She has had at least one ace in nine of 14 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 4.94 assists and 1.25 digs per set.

Success in the SMC
• Dating back to last season the Bulldogs have won six of their last nine 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 seven official home matches.
• San Jose State is the only other MW team that hasn't played double-digit home matches, having played nine. The 'Dogs end the year with three of their last four contests at home.
• 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 26 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 as the team has played 55 sets in MW play, tied for second most in the league and just one shy of the lead.

Happy Homecoming
• Playing in her home state, Aubrey Folk had a career-high 17 kills while hitting a season-best .406 at New Mexico.
• 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.

Crowded Mountain
• Entering the week just four of the 11 Mountain West teams have a winning record in conference play. No. 19 Colorado State is 14-0, Wyoming is 9-5, and San Jose State and San Diego State are both 8-6.
• The two MW teams that the Bulldogs play just once this season - and have not played yet - happen to be the two teams atop the league.

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 9.60 assists per set with 26 service aces in the 12 matches with the formation. Both setters have averaged better than 4.30 assists per set and 0.20 aces per set.

Taylor Terrific
• Junior Taylor Slover put together one of the best matches of her career against San Jose State, hitting .514 with 21 kills and just two attack errors. She finished just shy of her career-high of 25 kills tallied in the 2017 season opener vs. Utah Valley.
• For the season Slover leads the team averaging 3.74 points per set. She has led the team in kills in 16 matches, tallying double-digit kills 17 times.

Brielle Hitting Well
• Junior Brielle Hefner has been a consistent offensive threat all season as she leads the team's outside hitters swinging .232 and is second with 2.55 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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