Fresno State Athletics
Friday, August 25
San Jose, CA
4:30 PM
Fresno State
1-0
3
vs
1
Utah Valley
0-2
1
2
3
4
F
Fresno State
25
25
24
25
3
Utah Valley
16
17
26
22
1
Bulldogs Beat Utah Valley 3-1 in 2017 season opener
8/25/2017 7:11:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Taylor Slover had career-highs with 25 kills and six service aces to lead Fresno State to a 3-1 win over Utah Valley, 25-16, 25-17, 24-26, 25-22, in its 2017 season opener on Friday in San Jose.
Fresno State won its season opener for the second consecutive season and for the seventh time in its 10 seasons playing under head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell. Slover obliterated her previous career highs of 10 kills and one ace. She also had three blocks and junior Brielle Hefner also recorded a new career high with 12 kills hitting .400.
The Bulldogs outhit the Wolverines .354-.236 and dominated the first two sets en route to the victory. Fresno State had nine blocks and 11 total services aces while holding UVU below .200 hitting in two sets. Aubrey Folk added 13 kills, Madelyn Halteman had 46 assists (just five shy of her career high) and eight digs, and Jacqueline Hutcheson had a match-high 22 digs and eight assists. Haile Watson finished with a team-high five blocks, including two solo.
How it Happened
Fresno State took control early in the first set, jumping to a quick 4-1 lead. Utah Valley trailed by just a 17-13 score before the Bulldogs pulled away, going on a 3-0 run to reach 20-13 and extending to an 8-3 run to close out a 25-16 first set win in which the 'Dogs hit .480 with just two attack errors while holding Utah Valley to a .160 hitting percentage.
The 'Dogs took a quick 3-0 lead in the second set and jumped to a 10-4 advantage. The Bulldogs hitting percentage dropped to .308 in the second set but it made little difference as the squad had four service aces and held Utah Valley to .192 hitting. The 'Dogs reached 20 points with a 20-13 lead and ended the set with three straight points to take a 2-0 lead.
After just one total tie and one total lead change in the first two sets combined, the third set had 14 ties and four lead changes. Utah Valley held a small lead for most of the set but it was tied at 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24. The Bulldogs dodged a set point down 24-23 but Utah Valley followed with a kill and a service ace to force the fourth.
The fourth set was tight as well with nine ties. With the set tied 22-22, Halteman had a kill and Slover tallied her sixth ace to put the Bulldogs one point from victory. After a tough serve from Watson, Utah Valley's Madison Dennison sent an attack wide to close the Fresno State win.
Quotable
Head Coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell
On the match: "The Jitters are gone; the Bulldogs came to compete tonight. I loved our aggressiveness out of the gate. We pounced on Utah Valley out of the gate but what we are most impressed with is how we stayed tough when Utah Valley gained real momentum. We have to improve our serving game but otherwise we played some nice volleyball tonight.
On the team: "Our hitters were solid across the board. I attribute a lot of that to our passing and Maddy's setting game. She played well and put our hitters in good positions to be successful. Taylor Slover played a huge roll tonight - she did it all for us in her debut as a 6-rotation outside. Aubrey, also new to the position, hit well on the left pin. Brielle was super dependable on the right and Jacque was a true Libero tonight. She passed, she dug, she served tough and kept the team calm. We were really impressed by her tonight."
Notable
Slover's 25 kills are the most any current player on the Fresno State roster has ever had in a match…Her 25 kills tied for the fifth most in a four-set match in program history and her six aces tied for the second most in any match in program history…Utah Valley tied for second in the WAC last season and reached the WAC Tournament championship match…Friday was the first of two matches this season at Spartan Gym in San Jose, as the 'Dogs will return to face San Jose State in Mountain West play on Oct. 26…Emily Dzubak, Pumehana Nedlic, and Reagan Leonard all made their Bulldog debuts on Friday.
What's Next
The Bulldogs play twice more on Saturday in San Francisco. Fresno State will face San Francisco at 11:30 AM before concluding tournament play against Pepperdine at 4:30 pm at historic War Memorial Gym. Pepperdine beat Utah Valley by a similar 3-1 margin earlier Friday.
"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Follow us on:
Twitter: @FresnoStateVB
Instagram: FresnoStatevball
Facebook: FresnoStateVB
Fresno State won its season opener for the second consecutive season and for the seventh time in its 10 seasons playing under head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell. Slover obliterated her previous career highs of 10 kills and one ace. She also had three blocks and junior Brielle Hefner also recorded a new career high with 12 kills hitting .400.
The Bulldogs outhit the Wolverines .354-.236 and dominated the first two sets en route to the victory. Fresno State had nine blocks and 11 total services aces while holding UVU below .200 hitting in two sets. Aubrey Folk added 13 kills, Madelyn Halteman had 46 assists (just five shy of her career high) and eight digs, and Jacqueline Hutcheson had a match-high 22 digs and eight assists. Haile Watson finished with a team-high five blocks, including two solo.
How it Happened
Fresno State took control early in the first set, jumping to a quick 4-1 lead. Utah Valley trailed by just a 17-13 score before the Bulldogs pulled away, going on a 3-0 run to reach 20-13 and extending to an 8-3 run to close out a 25-16 first set win in which the 'Dogs hit .480 with just two attack errors while holding Utah Valley to a .160 hitting percentage.
The 'Dogs took a quick 3-0 lead in the second set and jumped to a 10-4 advantage. The Bulldogs hitting percentage dropped to .308 in the second set but it made little difference as the squad had four service aces and held Utah Valley to .192 hitting. The 'Dogs reached 20 points with a 20-13 lead and ended the set with three straight points to take a 2-0 lead.
After just one total tie and one total lead change in the first two sets combined, the third set had 14 ties and four lead changes. Utah Valley held a small lead for most of the set but it was tied at 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24. The Bulldogs dodged a set point down 24-23 but Utah Valley followed with a kill and a service ace to force the fourth.
The fourth set was tight as well with nine ties. With the set tied 22-22, Halteman had a kill and Slover tallied her sixth ace to put the Bulldogs one point from victory. After a tough serve from Watson, Utah Valley's Madison Dennison sent an attack wide to close the Fresno State win.
Quotable
Head Coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell
On the match: "The Jitters are gone; the Bulldogs came to compete tonight. I loved our aggressiveness out of the gate. We pounced on Utah Valley out of the gate but what we are most impressed with is how we stayed tough when Utah Valley gained real momentum. We have to improve our serving game but otherwise we played some nice volleyball tonight.
On the team: "Our hitters were solid across the board. I attribute a lot of that to our passing and Maddy's setting game. She played well and put our hitters in good positions to be successful. Taylor Slover played a huge roll tonight - she did it all for us in her debut as a 6-rotation outside. Aubrey, also new to the position, hit well on the left pin. Brielle was super dependable on the right and Jacque was a true Libero tonight. She passed, she dug, she served tough and kept the team calm. We were really impressed by her tonight."
Notable
Slover's 25 kills are the most any current player on the Fresno State roster has ever had in a match…Her 25 kills tied for the fifth most in a four-set match in program history and her six aces tied for the second most in any match in program history…Utah Valley tied for second in the WAC last season and reached the WAC Tournament championship match…Friday was the first of two matches this season at Spartan Gym in San Jose, as the 'Dogs will return to face San Jose State in Mountain West play on Oct. 26…Emily Dzubak, Pumehana Nedlic, and Reagan Leonard all made their Bulldog debuts on Friday.
What's Next
The Bulldogs play twice more on Saturday in San Francisco. Fresno State will face San Francisco at 11:30 AM before concluding tournament play against Pepperdine at 4:30 pm at historic War Memorial Gym. Pepperdine beat Utah Valley by a similar 3-1 margin earlier Friday.
"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Follow us on:
Twitter: @FresnoStateVB
Instagram: FresnoStatevball
Facebook: FresnoStateVB
Team Stats
FS
UVU
Kills
60
46
Errors
15
17
Attempts
127
123
Hitting %
.354
.236
Points
80.0
61.0
Assists
58
43
Aces
11
8
Blocks
9.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
25
Aces
6
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
4
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
L/DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
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