Bulldogs sweep Nevada following Senior Day celebration

Saturday, November 17

Fresno, Calif.

1 P.M. PT

Fresno State

21-9, 13-4MW

Nevada

8-21, 1-17MW

Nevada

Fresno State

Bulldogs sweep Nevada following Senior Day celebration

11/17/2018 4:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State honored its seven graduating seniors in a pregame celebration and the upperclassmen combined for 40 kills, 18 digs, eight blocks, and four service aces in a quick 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-19) sweep of Nevada on Saturday in the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State (21-9, 13-4 MW) clinched an outright second place finish in the MW and has won 21 matches in a season for the first time since 2003. The Bulldogs completed a season sweep of Nevada (8-21, 1-17 MW), which saw its season come to an end losing 19 of its last 20 matches of the year.

The six healthy Bulldog seniors all made big contributions on Saturday. Taylor Slover had a match-high 13 kills and hit .300 with two aces while Haile Watson hit .667 with 10 kills and five blocks. Aubrey Folk had a season-high seven blocks and seven kills and Jessica Gilbert hit .533 with 10 kills, two aces, and two blocks. Emily Dzubak chipped in seven digs and Pumehana Nedlic had three digs.

Among the underclassmen, Reagan Leonard had a match-high 18 digs and is now just 19 digs shy of the single-season program record. Kava Durr hit .389 with eight kills and Madelyn Halteman nearly had a double-double with 42 assists and nine digs. The Bulldogs outhit Nevada .388-.168 and had a 9.0-2.0 edge in blocks as Nevada had the fewest blocks by a Bulldog opponent this season.

How it Happened
Fresno State led for virtually the entire match but Nevada stayed close in sets one and three. In the first set, The Bulldogs jumped to a 6-1 lead but the Wolf Pack got within a point at 15-14 and battled all the way back to tie the set at 20-20. The 'Dogs ended the set on a 5-1 run, however, and scored the last three points as kills from Slover and Folk ended it (watch).

The second set was tied 6-6 before the Bulldogs blew it open. The 'Dogs held Nevada to -.029 hitting in the set as the Wolf Pack had just six kills and seven attack errors. A 5-0 run put Fresno State up 11-6 and they led by at least four points the rest of the way. The Bulldogs had four blocks in the set and, after leading 18-11, ended the set on a 7-1 run with consecutive kills by Durr clinching it (watch).

Fresno State led 8-3 early in the third set but, like the first set, Nevada battled back and tied it at 13-13. The 'Dogs scored the next six points to moved ahead 19-13 as Fresno State hit .412 with 19 kills in the final period with seven coming from Slover in just 11 attacks. Nevada had a late 4-1 run to make it a 22-19 Bulldog lead before two kills from Gilbert sandwiched around a Durr kill completed the sweep (watch).

Notes

The last time a Fresno State team won more than 21 matches was 2002. That team was the last Fresno State squad to play in the postseason, finishing 23-7.
Leonard now has 554 digs this season, the second most in a season in program history and just 19 digs shy of the single-season program record of 573 set by current Fresno State assistant coach Maggie Eppright in 2015.
Watson now has 386 career blocks, surpassing Lesli Lopes for the fifth most career blocks in program history.
Fresno State has won 18 of its last 24 home matches dating back to the 2016 season.
The 'Dogs drew 1,088 fans for Saturday's match, the ninth 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.
Fresno State had the same more blocks than its opponent for the 22^nd time in 30 matches this year, improving to 20-2 in those matches.
With a 6-4 edge in service aces Fresno State is now 14-0 this season when having the same or more aces than its opponent.

Quotes

Head Coach Jonathan Winder

On the match…
"I thought it was a good response (to Thursday's match). Nevada has played some teams really tough and had a lot of 4-set and 5-set matches. We talked a lot about being more disciplined. We weren't as clean as we usually are (on Thursday) but I thought today was a good response. Haile was really good and Jess was good and I thought Kava was really smart today, she didn't force anything and passed well."

On blocking…
"That should be one of our strengths and it has been. Against San Jose we weren't getting in the right spots, and today we were better about getting to the right spots and executing the scouting report better."

What's Next
Fresno State closes the regular season facing Air Force for the first and only time this year on Monday at 6 p.m. The Falcons are 16-15 overall and 6-11 in MW matches and are looking to finish the season with an overall winning record for the first time since 1999.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.

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