‘Dogs defeat UNLV 3-1, regain MW lead at 5-1

Thursday, October 11

Fresno, Calif.

7 P.M. PT

Fresno State

13-6, 5-1MW

UNLV

13-6, 4-3MW

UNLV

Fresno State

‘Dogs defeat UNLV 3-1, regain MW lead at 5-1

10/11/2018 10:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State outhit UNLV .324-.210 and outserved the NCAA leader in aces with 11 service aces and just six errors in a 3-1 (25-10, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17) victory over the Rebels on Thursday night.

Fresno State (13-6, 5-1 MW) regained sole possession of first place in the MW after New Mexico dropped to 5-2 with a loss at San Diego State. UNLV (13-6, 4-3 MW), which entered the match leading NCAA Div. I with 2.10 aces per set, had just five aces and 14 service errors as the 'Dogs were +14 in the service game (six more aces, eight fewer errors). UNLV had won 10 of its last 12 matches and also led the MW hitting .262 for the season.

Madelyn Halteman led the 'Dogs with a career-high four service aces to go with 40 assists, eight digs, and two kills. Taylor Slover recorded her 10^th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 11 digs, Jessica Gilbert hit .647 with 11 kills, three aces, and three blocks, and Aubrey Folk tallied 10 kills and four blocks. Reagan Leonard had a match-high 17 digs.

How it Happened
The 'Dogs completely dominated the first set as they have in virtually every MW match this season. Fresno State hit an amazing .909 in the first set with 10 kills and no errors in just 11 swings. Arguably more amazingly, UNLV had just one total dig in the entire set. The Rebels hit .100 in the set as the 'Dogs took a 16-6 lead and ended the set on a 6-1 run to win it 25-10.

UNLV bounced back in the second set, taking a quick 6-1 lead before holding on late to even the match. The Rebels hit .333 with 17 kills after totaling just seven in the first set. UNLV was ahead 18-8 before the 'Dogs made things interesting, going on a 7-0 run to trail just 18-15. Trailing 19-15, a 5-1 Bulldog spurt brought the teams even at 20-20, but UNLV scored five of the next seven points.

The Bulldogs led for the entire third set, scoring the first four points and taking a 6-1 lead. The 'Dogs led 18-12 before UNLV got back within a 19-18 deficit. Leading 20-19, Fresno State would end the set on a 5-1 run with Folk's fourth kill of the set winning it for the Bulldogs.

The fourth set was the only one of the match in which there were any lead changes. The set totaled four ties and three lead changes, in fact, as UNLV had an early 9-5 lead but the 'Dogs had an 11-3 run to move ahead 16-12. The Bulldogs had four service aces and no errors in the set while the Rebels had just one ace and four errors, a difference of seven points. The Fresno State lead was 20-17 before the 'Dogs ended the match on a 5-0 run as two kills and two Rebel attack errors got them to match point and Slover finished off the win with a kill (watch).

Notes

Fresno State has won 15 of its last 19 home matches dating back to the 2016 season.
Fresno State's 5-1 start to MW play is its best since joining the conference in 2012 and its best overall conference start since the 2003 team began WAC play 7-1.
The Bulldogs improved to 9-0 this season when recording more aces than their opponent.
Fresno State has won the first set in all six of its MW matches and in 14 of 19 total matches this year. The 'Dogs improved to 12-2 this season when winning the first set.
UNLV had a 49-47 advantage in kills as, for the third time this season, the 'Dogs earned a win despite trailing in kills.
UNLV sophomore Mariena Hayden leads NCAA Div. I averaging just under one ace per set but was held to just two aces and had five service errors on Thursday.

Quotes

Head Coach Jonathan Winder

On Serving…
"We kind of got away from (our serving) for a couple weeks and that was the reason we won a lot of our early matches, so it was good tonight to get back to it. Serving is part of our identity and we spent a lot of time this week working on it and today I felt was the first time it showed up again."

On preparing for the match this week…
"Last week I thought we kind of took the foot off the gas pedal in terms of growing and getting better and we didn't do that this week. Yesterday's practice was kind of a grind because we were doing things we weren't very good at. It prepared us a little bit better for tonight; when things weren't perfect we weren't afraid and didn't panic."

What's Next
The Bulldogs face New Mexico in another battle against one of the top teams in the MW standings at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Save Mart Center.

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