Bulldogs keep rolling with sweep of New Mexico

Saturday, October 13

Fresno, Calif.

1 P.M. PT

Fresno State

14-6, 6-1MW

New Mexico

11-9, 5-3MW

New Mexico

Fresno State

Bulldogs keep rolling with sweep of New Mexico

10/13/2018 4:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State held New Mexico to a .118 hitting percentage and led in kills, blocks, digs, and aces to record its third MW sweep of the year, beating the Lobos 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-17) on Saturday afternoon in the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State (14-6, 6-1 MW) continued its best MW start since joining the league in 2012, remaining in first place in the conference as still the only 1-loss team in MW play. New Mexico (11-9, 5-3 MW) began the week leading the league at 5-1 but lost at San Diego State on Thursday before falling to the 'Dogs in three sets on Saturday.

Senior Taylor Slover recorded her 11^th double-double of the season with a match-high 14 kills along with 10 digs. Haile Watson had a match-high six blocks and had nine kills hitting .389 and Aubrey Folk hit .444 with nine kills and four blocks. Madelyn Halteman led the match with 36 assists and added seven digs, three blocks, and two kills and Reagan Leonard had a match-high 15 digs.

How it Happened
Fresno State won the first set for the sixth time in as many MW matches but the opening period was the closest of the match, as there were five ties and three changes in the set while the 'Dogs led wire-to-wire in the second and third sets. New Mexico kept it close due in part to six Bulldog service errors in the set and led 21-19. After a timeout the Bulldogs would end the set on a 6-1 run with three kills by Slover, the last of which clinched the set.

The 'Dogs jumped to a 10-4 lead in the second set and held the Lobos to .048 hitting in the period. Fresno State held a 23-18 lead but New Mexico had a 4-1 run and staved off two set points to cut the Bulldog lead to 24-22. On their third shot at set point, Halteman and Jessica Gilbert teamed up for a block to give the home team a 2-0 lead in the match.

Fresno State hit a match-best .382 and had five blocks in the third set to complete the sweep in dominant fashion. New Mexico trailed just 13-10 before a 6-0 Bulldog run gave Fresno State a commanding lead. Watson and Folk combined on blocks for three of the six points in the run and the 'Dogs would reach match point leading 24-16. The Lobos got a kill to save the first match point but followed with a service error to end it.

Notes

Fresno State has won 16 of its last 20 home matches dating back to the 2016 season and is 7-1 at home this season. .
Fresno State's 6-1 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 'Dogs had a 3-0 edge in service aces, holding their opponent without an ace for the second time in MW play. The Bulldogs improved to 10-0 this season when recording more aces than their opponent.
Fresno State has won the first set in all seven of its MW matches and in 15 of 20 total matches this year. The 'Dogs improved to 13-2 this season when winning the first set.
The Bulldogs had a 9-6 edge in blocks and have had the same or more blocks than their opponent in 15 of 20 matches this year, going 13-2 in those 15 matches.
New Mexico senior Victoria Spragg entered the match leading the MW hitting .391 in league matches but was held to a -.222 hitting percentage on Saturday with two kills and four errors in nine attacks.
Saturday's attendance was 1,050 as Fresno State drew more than 1,000 fans for the fifth time this season.

Quotes

Head Coach Jonathan Winder

On the match…
"I think today was a little bit of a grind. They are a really different team from UNLV. With a quick turnaround we started kind of slow and missed a lot of serves and did some things we don't normally do. The girls stuck with it and kind of grinded through the day and thankfully we were able to win."

On playing the next four matches on the road…
"It will be our two toughest back-to-back weeks. They're all good teams and as evidenced through the rest of the conference it's really hard to win on the road. It's hard for teams to play well when they come here and it's hard for everyone to play on the road. It'll be a great challenge for us and we've got to keep getting better"

What's Next
The Bulldogs spend the next two weeks on the road, starting with matches at Nevada on Thursday and San Jose State next Saturday.

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