Volleyball improves to 3-1 with 3-1 win over Alabama State

Friday, September 1

Portland, OR

10:00 AM

Fresno State

Alabama State

Volleyball improves to 3-1 with 3-1 win over Alabama State

9/1/2017 12:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Sophomore Madelyn Halteman recorded Fresno State's first double-double of the season with 42 assists and 13 digs and the Bulldogs held Alabama State to .152 hitting in a 3-1 victory to open play at the North Harbour Marriott Invitational Friday Morning in Portland.

Fresno State (3-1) will return to the court just two hours after concluding the match as the 'Dogs will face tournament-host Portland at 2:00 p.m. An NCAA Tournament team last season, Alabama State (2-2) finished 24-9 and won the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) last year.

Halteman also had three kills, two service aces, and a block. Taylor Slover narrowly missed a double-double with 15 kills and nine digs, Aubrey Folk had 12 kills, and Lauren Torres and Brielle Hefner each had eight kills. Torres and Haile Watson both had three blocks and Jacqueline Hutcheson had 17 digs while freshman Reagan Leonard had career highs of nine digs, four aces, and four assists.

How it Happened
Fresno State jumped to a 6-2 lead with just one kill as Alabama State began with some misfires. The Bulldogs held at least a four-point lead until reaching set point at 24-19, but Alabama State rallied to save four set points and forced the 'Dogs to call timeout with the lead down to 24-23. The Bulldogs responded as Halteman made a surprise attack and got a set-clinching kill.

Alabama State continued its momentum into the second set. The Hornets led for most of the set and held a 22-17 lead before the Bulldogs ran off three straight points to get within a 22-20 deficit. Alabama State hit .306 in the set, picking up its 14^th and 15^th kills to reach set point before finishing it off with a block.

The Bulldogs used a pair of big runs to capture set three, scoring 15 of their 25 points on those two runs. Trailing 13-9, Fresno State went on an 8-1 spurt to take a 17-14 lead. After Alabama State pulled back ahead at 19-18, the Bulldogs would end the set on a 7-1 run, scoring the last four points of the set with a kill, an ace, and two ASU errors.

In the fourth set the Bulldogs had eight kills before their first attack error, opening up a 13-7 lead. The Bulldogs had three blocks and held the Hornets to .000 hitting in the set, but Alabama State was able to battle back and trailed just 18-17. Fresno State closed strong from there, matching what it did in the third set with a 7-1 run and 4-0 finish to complete the win.

Notable
The Bulldogs recorded a season-high 68 digs in the match, topping their previous season best by 21 digs…Halteman tied for the team lead with five double-doubles as a redshirt freshman last year…The 'Dogs held Alabama State below .200 hitting in three of the four sets…Fresno State improved to 2-0 in four set matches and 2-0 playing on Friday

What's Next
The Bulldogs are right back on the Chiles Center court to face host Portland at 2 p.m. before concluding play in the weekend tournament facing Oregon State at noon Saturday.

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