Volleyball back home to host Nevada Thursday, San Jose State Saturday

Nevada at Fresno State
Sep. 28, 2017 • 7:00 PM • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Video: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats on gobulldogs.com • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History: Nevada leads 26-24
Promotions:
• Club Sports Night
• In-Game Eating Contest

San Jose State at Fresno State
Sep. 30, 2017 • 1:00 PM • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Video: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats on gobulldogs.com • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History: San Jose State leads 49-33
Promotions:
• FREE ADMISSION WITH SEPT. 30 FOOTBALL TICKET
• Doubleheader Day and Alumnae Day

Complete Weekly Notes (PDF)

Scouting Nevada (4-10, 2-0 MW)
• Nevada had the worst non-conference record in the Mountain West at 2-10 but has started league play 2-0 with a 3-1 home win over San Jose State and a 3-0 road victory at Air Force. The Wolf Pack had been on a nine-match losing streak entering conference play.
• The victory at Air Force was the team's first road win of the year. Its two non-conference wins were against teams that Fresno State also defeated (San Francisco and Utah Valley).
• The Wolf Pack was picked fifth in the preseason MW poll. The team returned just two starters, losing four as well as its libero after finishing 19-11 and 10-8 in the MW last year, placing fifth.
• Nevada ranks second to last in the league hitting just .159 this season but is fourth in digs per set. Shayla Hoeft leads the team with 3.38 kills per set and contributes 0.83 blocks per set.

Scouting San Jose State (9-4, 1-1 MW)
• San Jose State started the year 7-1 and is 4-2 in road matches this season. The team opened Mountain West play with two road matches, losing at Nevada before a 3-2 win at Air Force.
• Among the Spartan non-conference wins was a 3-2 victory over Pepperdine and a 3-1 win at San Francisco. San Jose State has just one three-set loss this year, taking a set off No. 9 Kansas.
• The Spartans lead the Mountain West in service aces per set (1.51) and in opposing hitting percentage (.165) despite ranking ninth in the league with just 1.98 blocks per set.
• Luiza Andrade leads the league with 0.39 aces per set while Fernando Vido is one of three SJSU players averaging better than three kills per set this season with a 3.47 average.
• SJSU was picked to finish eighth in the MW after a 12-18 record and 5-13 league mark last year.

Finally Home
• After playing just one official home match over the first 34 days of the season Fresno State will have four home matches over an eight-day stretch starting on Thursday.
• Thirteen of Fresno State's first 14 official matches of the season were played outside of Fresno. The team played on the road for five consecutive weeks with just one midweek home match Sept. 5 vs. CSU Bakersfield (the Fresno Pacific match was an exhibition).
• The Bulldogs played road matches in four states and two time zones, picking up two road wins and two neutral site wins.

Success in the SMC
• Dating back to last season the Bulldogs have won three straight home matches (four if including the Fresno Pacific exhibition).
• Fresno State won each of its last two home Mountain West matches last season with 3-1 victories over San Diego State and Utah State.
• The squad has had a winning home record in each of the last two years and in five of the last six seasons.

Big Blocking Set
• The Bulldogs tallied a season-high 10.0 blocks in the second set against Utah State last Saturday, winning the set 25-19.
• The total topped the 9.0 blocks that squad had in the second set among its program-record 21.0 blocks against CSU Bakersfield.
• Haile Watson and Taylor Slover each had four blocks in the set and Brielle Hefner had three as the Bulldogs forced a -.021 hitting percentage from the Aggies with 10 kills and 11 errors.

Syd the Kid
• Freshman Sydney Lostumo made her Fresno State debut as the starting setter in the team's MW opener at Boise State.
• The native of Arizona had 29 assists, six digs, one kill, and one block in her debut. She topped those numbers at Utah State with 33 assists, seven digs, two blocks, and a kill.
• Lostumo also had a service ace in each of her first two collegiate matches and did not commit an attack error.

Block Party
• Fresno State ranks second in the Mountain West and 26th in NCAA Div. I with 137.0 blocks this season. The 'Dogs average of 2.63 blocks per set is also third best in the league.
• Fresno State has recorded double-digit blocks in seven matches this year and has tallied more blocks than its opponent in seven matches, including three straight.
• Haile Watson and Lauren Torres are both averaging at least one block per set this season while Taylor Slover and Brielle Hefner average better than half a block.

Brielle Hitting Well
• Junior Brielle Hefner has averaged 3.00 kills per set and hit .308 in the last eight matches.
• Hefner had the match of her 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.
• Hefner has been a consistent offensive threat all season as she leads the team hitting .268 and is second with 2.68 kills per set.

21 Jump Night
• In its last home match, on Sept. 5, Fresno State recorded 21.0 blocks, a program record for a three-set match and the highest three-set total recorded by a Div. I team this season.
• The Bulldogs broke the previous three-set program record of 15.0 blocks set against Hawaii in 2007. The squad came within one block of the overall program record of 22.0 blocks set in a four-set match
• The total was the highest for any Div. I match this season before Western Kentucky tallied 23.0 blocks in a five-set match. The 'Dogs had five blocks in the first set, nine in the second set, and seven in the third set.

Five Set Fun
• Fresno State played three straight five-set matches, dropping five-setters against CSUN and San Francisco before beating CSU Bakersfield in five.
• The team played three consecutive five-set matches for the first time since ending the season with three straight in 2014

Road Openers
• The Bulldogs played in an opposing team's home opener three times over their last five non-conference matches.
• Fresno State beat CSU Bakersfield, 3-2, in its home opener while dropping matches at Saint Mary's and UC Irvine in their first home action.
• The Bulldogs were also the home-opening opponent at Portland as four of the team's six non-conference road matches came in its opponent's first home match of the season.

Big Time Blocker
• Junior Haile 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. Watson had four solo blocks, including a stuff on match point, and six block assists to lead the Bulldogs.
• She has recorded at least four blocks in 10 matches this year and for the season she ranks sixth in the Mountain West with 1.17 blocks per set and is 65th in the nation with 61.0 total blocks.

2 Matches, 2 Cities, 10 Sets, 1 Day
• Fresno State played a volleyball marathon on Sept. 9, playing two matches in two venues (with an hour and a half commute between them) over a stretch of less than 11 hours.
• The 'Dogs took on CSUN at 11 a.m. on the campus of Saint Mary's before crossing the bay bridge to play at San Francisco at 7 p.m. After not playing a five-set match all season, both contests went five as the team played 10 sets of volleyball on the day.
• USF was playing its only match of the day and was able to outlast the Bulldogs in five after CSUN pulled out a narrow win in the first match. Together the two matches took four hours and 37 minutes to play.

Taylor Terrific
• Junior Taylor Slover ranks sixth in the Mountain West averaging 3.99 points per set this season. She was second in NCAA Div. I with 6.60 points per set through the first week of the year.
• In her first match as a full six-rotation player, Slover had career highs of 25 kills and 6 service aces in the 'Dogs season-opening 3-1 win over Utah Valley. She tied for the second most aces in a match in program history and the 5th most kills in a four-set match.

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Volleyball back home to host Nevada Thursday, San Jose State Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Brielle Hefner

Sydney Lostumo

Taylor Slover

Lauren Torres

Haile Watson

Fresno State Athletics