Bulldogs edged in four by San Jose State

Thursday, November 15

Fresno, Calif.

7 P.M. PT

Fresno State

20-9, 12-4MW

San Jose State

15-11, 10-7MW

San Jose State

Fresno State

Bulldogs edged in four by San Jose State

11/15/2018 11:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – In a match with four sets all decided by three points or less, San Jose State came out on top of Fresno State with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24) victory on Thursday night in the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State (20-9, 12-4 MW) lost at home for just the third time this season and lost the first two sets for just the fourth time in 29 total matches this year. San Jose State (15-11, 10-7 MW) continued its strong finish to the season, winning for the ninth time in its last 11 matches and avenging a 3-1 home loss to the 'Dogs in October.

The Fresno State loss paired with a Colorado State sweep of UNLV on Thursday night clinched the outright MW title for the Rams. The Bulldogs had already secured at least a second-place finish in the conference and are now assured of finishing second with two matches remaining in the regular season.

Despite the loss on Thursday several Bulldogs had career-best nights. Madelyn Halteman had a career-high 20 digs to go with 39 assists for her eighth double-double of the season. Reagan Leonard had a career-high 10 assists and had 27 digs for her first career double-double and Jocelyn Rodriguez had a career-high 17 digs. Taylor Slover tied her career high with a match-high 25 kills while Jessica Gilbert had 11 kills and Haile Watson led the match with six blocks.

How it Happened
Fresno State never led in either of the first two sets despite losing both by just three points. The 'Dogs hit a match-low .135 in the first set, and after it was tied 9-9 San Jose State used a 6-0 run to take a 15-9 lead. Fresno State battled back to trail by just one point at 19-18 and was down 20-19 before the Spartans had a 4-1 run to take a 24-20 lead. Fresno State dodged two set points but a kill from Giulia Gavio won it for the visitors.

The Spartans hit a match-best .333 in the second set to take a 2-0 lead in the match. San Jose State led for the duration, going up by as many as five points, but the 'Dogs stayed close and got within a 23-22 deficit late in the set with a 3-1 run. After a Spartan timeout, the visitors got a kill from Gavio followed by a block to close it out.

The Bulldogs had their best offensive set in the third, hitting .275 to extend the match. The 'Dogs jumped to a quick 9-3 lead but the Spartans battled all the way back to level the set at 19-19. It was tied at 20-20 before the 'Dogs scored three straight points, and Fresno State reached set point at 24-21 but the Spartans saved the first two to make the score 24-23. Fresno State called timeout and San Jose State followed with a service error to send the match to the fourth.

There were 12 ties and six lead changes in the fourth set. Fresno State had its best blocking set of the match with four blocks and held the Spartans to a .224 hitting percentage. Neither team led by more than four points in the set and it was tied 22-22 before the Spartans scored two straight to reach match point up 24-22. A kill from Slover followed by a Spartan attack error brought the 'Dogs even at 24-24, but the Spartans followed with kills from Kaitlynn Zdroik and Gavio to finish the match.

Notes

Leonard now has 536 digs this season, the second most in a season in program history and just 37 digs shy of the single-season program record of 573 set by current Fresno State assistant coach Maggie Eppright in 2015.
Watson now has 381 career blocks, one shy of the fifth most in program history.
The 'Dogs drew 1,028 fans for Thursday's match, the eighth crowd over 1,000 this season. By comparison, Fresno State only played in front of 1,000 or more fans in one of 12 road matches this year.
San Jose State had an 11.0–10.0 edge in blocks as the 'Dogs had fewer blocks than their opponent for just the eighth time in 29 matches this year.
Fresno State lost for the first time this season when winning the third set. The 'Dogs had been 17-0 on the year when winning the third set, including an 11-0 mark in matches that went at least four sets.
The Bulldogs lost for just the sixth time in their last 23 home matches.

What's Next
Fresno State has two more home matches to close the regular season. The 'Dogs will honor their seven graduating seniors prior to Saturday's match at 1 p.m. vs. Nevada and will close the home schedule facing Air Force on Monday at 6 p.m.

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