Bulldogs open NIVC Thursday in Las Vegas

Thursday, November 29

Las Vegas, Nev.

4:30 P.M. PT

Fresno State

UC Santa Barbara

Bulldogs open NIVC Thursday in Las Vegas

11/27/2018 3:40:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Fresno State (21-10, 13-5 MW) vs. UC Santa Barbara (17-11, 9-7 BWC)
Nov. 29, 2018 • 4:30 PM PT • Cox Pavilion (2,500) • Las Vegas, Nev.
Video: MW Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak: UCSB leads 25-5-3 • UCSB W 1

NIVC Regional (Las Vegas, Nev.) - NIVC Tournament Central
Nov. 29
Fresno State (21-10) vs. UC Santa Barbara, (17-11), 4:30 p.m. PT
UNLV (19-11) vs. UC Irvine (16-12), 7 p.m. PT
Nov. 30
Winners, 7 p.m. PT

Complete Weekly Release (PDF)

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State plays its first postseason match in 16 years, looks for first postseason win since 1995
The Bulldogs qualified for the NIVC for the fourth time. The tournament returned just last year
With 21 total wins the 'Dogs have their most victories in a season since the 2002 team finished 23-7
Reagan Leonard needs just four digs to break the single-season program record of 573 digs
Fresno State's last postseason match was also against UC Santa Barbara, a 3-1 loss on Dec. 6, 2002

Scouting UC Santa Barbara (17-11, 9-7 BWC)

UC Santa Barbara ended the season with three straight wins and recorded a 3-0 sweep at NCAA tournament team Hawaii as the Gauchos finished in fourth place in the Big West.
Lindsey Ruddins and Emilia Petrachi earned first team All-Big West honors. Ruddins ranks second in NCAA Div. I with 5.37 kills per set and Petrachi led the Big West with 5.02 digs per set.
UCSB was 4-2 in neutral site matches this season and 15-6 in three and four set matches.
Fresno State is 5-25-3 all-time vs. the Gauchos but the teams have not faced off since 2014.

Scouting UC Irvine (16-12, 10-6 BWC)

UC Irvine started 8-2 in the Big West but lost four of its last six matches. The Anteaters finished third to earn the league's automatic NIVC bid as the top finisher not in the NCAA Tournament.
UCI had four first team All-Big West selections as well as the Big West Freshman of the Year in Abby Marjama, who led the league with 44 service aces and averaged 2.67 kills per set.
The Anteaters earned a 3-0 sweep of the Bulldogs in Long Beach on Sept. 14. UC Irvine, which reached the quarterfinals of the NIVC last year, has won its last two meetings with the 'Dogs.

Scouting UNLV (19-11, 10-8 MW)

UNLV tied for fifth in the MW after being picked last in the preseason Coaches' Poll. The Rebels lost three straight matches to end the regular season but still recorded 19 wins.
Mariena Hayden was named to the All-MW team after she led the league in points, kills, and aces in conference play. She leads Div. I with 94 aces but also has 114 service errors in 111 sets.
Fresno State earned 3-1 wins over UNLV both at home and on the road this year. In the two matches the 'Dogs had a .335-.216 edge in hitting, a 20-8 edge in blocks, and led 17-11 in aces.

NIVC Time

Fresno State makes its first postseason appearance in 16 years taking part in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
The 'Dogs face UC Santa Barbara in their first match and would play the winner of the UC Irvine-UNLV game in Las Vegas on Friday night with a win. The winner of the UNLV regional will play the winner of the Wyoming regional (Wyoming, Portland, Northern Colorado, Utah Valley) in the third round.
The NIVC is a 32-team single elimination bracketed tournament. Quarterfinals and semifinals will be played next week and the championship match is scheduled for Dec. 11.
The NIVC is in its second year of rebirth after previously taking place from 1989-1995. Fresno State has competed in the event three times before in 1992, 1994, and 1995, compiling a 7-5 record in pool play.

Postseason Primer

The Bulldogs will be playing in the postseason for the first time since the 2002 team qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Coincidentally, the 'Dogs last postseason match, on Dec. 6, 2002, was also against UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos eliminated the 'Dogs with a 3-1 win.
Fresno State will make its eighth all-time postseason appearance as an NCAA program and is just the second postseason team this century.
Fresno State's last postseason win was a 3-1 victory over Stephen F. Austin in the NIVC on Dec. 1, 1995.

Four All-Conference

A program-record four Fresno State volleyball players earned All-Mountain West honors. Madelyn Halteman, Taylor Slover, and Haile Watson were named to the All-MW team and Reagan Leonard received Honorable Mention, with all earning their first All-MW selections.
The four All-MW honors are the most for the program as a member of the conference as Fresno State had not received more than two all-conference selections since joining the league in 2012. In fact, just five total Bulldogs earned All-MW honors over the team's first six years in the conference.
The four all-conference selections are the most for the program since the 2003 team earned four all-conference awards as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

Racking Up the Wins

With a 21-10 overall record Fresno State has equaled its most wins in 15 years, since the 2003 team finished the year 21-7. Fresno State won 23 matches in 2002, ending the year 23-7.
Fresno State's 9-win improvement over last season, in which the team finished 12-18, is the biggest increase since the 2002 team won nine more matches than in 2001.

Best MW Season

At 13-5 in MW play Fresno State finished behind only Colorado State (15-3), a program best and the first second place conference finish since the 2003 team was second in the WAC West division.
Since joining the MW in 2012 the highest the 'Dogs had ever finished in the league was 4th place. The team finished in eighth place or lower in each of the last four seasons and was picked seventh in the 2018 preseason poll.
Fresno State has also broken the program record for conference wins in any league, as the team had never won more than 11 matches as a member of any conference.

Fantastic First Year

Jonathan Winder is one of just five first year coaches in NCAA Div. I to have recorded 21 or more wins this season, joining Tennessee's Eve Rackham, Navy's Paco Labrador, High Point's Ryan Meek, and USC's Brent Crouch.
Winder has tied the Fresno State record for wins by a coach in his or her first season with the program. Lindy Vivas won 21 matches in her first season in 1991.

Big Dig Season

Reagan Leonard has totaled 570 digs this year, the second most in a season in program history and just three digs shy of the single-season program record of 573 digs set by current Fresno State assistant coach Maggie Eppright in 2015.
Leonard's current 4.75 digs per set average is second best in the MW and would be the third best in a season in program history.
In just her second career start at libero, Leonard broke the single-match program record with 38 digs in the 'Dogs 3-1 win at Eastern Illinois.

Winning on the Road

The Bulldogs are 9-3 in true road matches this season and broke the program record for road MW wins going 7-2.
The 'Dogs won seven MW road matches after the 2016 and 2017 teams combined to go 2-16 in road MW (both were 1-8).
Fresno State will end the season with a winning road record for the first time since 2013.
The 'Dogs were 3-3 in neutral site matches during the regular season.

Beating Postseason Teams

Fresno State defeated four teams during the regular season that qualified for the postseason and had a 6-2 record against them.
The 'Dogs beat NCAA Tournament team Colorado State, were 2-0 against both UNLV and Wyoming, and also had a win over NIVC qualifier Valparaiso.

All-Around Star

Senior Taylor Slover recorded double-doubles in eight MW matches and is third in the league with 14 double-doubles this year, the most by a Bulldog since Zana Bowens had 15 double-doubles in the 2014 season.
Slover led the team and ranked third in the MW with 3.94 kills per set and 4.49 points per set in MW matches. She recorded double-digit kills in all but one MW match and had two 20-kill matches, leading the team in kills in every MW match.
Slover was also second on the team in service aces and digs in league games and led the team with 270 serve receptions and a .949 serve reception average.

Super Support

Fresno State ranked second in the MW in average home attendance this season, trailing only 15-time MW champion Colorado State, and is one of just four NCAA Div. I schools in California averaging more than 1,000 fans per match.
The team topped 1,000 fans in 10 of 13 home matches this year. By comparison, the 'Dogs played only one road match this season (of 12) in which the opponent had more than 1,000 fans (at Colorado State).
The 'Dogs have a higher average home attendance than Pac-12 schools Cal and Washington State.

Better Blocking

Fresno State has had the same or more blocks than its opponent in 22 of 31 matches this year.
The Bulldogs are 20-2 this season when having the same or more blocks than their opponent but 1-8 when trailing in blocks.

First Set Success

The 'Dogs won the first set in each of their first seven MW matches and in 19 of 31 total matches this year
Fresno State is 17-2 this year when winning the first set and 4-8 when losing it.

Central Valley Stars

Five of Fresno State's seven starters (six + libero) are local products from the Central Valley.
Madelyn Halteman (Turlock), Taylor Slover (Visalia), Jessica Gilbert (Modesto), Jocelyn Rodriguez (Clovis) and Emily Dzubak (Stockton) have led the Bulldog resurgence this season. Brielle Hefner (Madera) is out due to injury but is also a local player that has been a starter during her career.

On Service

Fresno State is undefeated (14-0) when leading or tied in aces and 7-10 when trailing its opponent in aces.
The 'Dogs are averaging 1.51 aces per set in their 21 wins compared to 1.00 aces per set in the 10 losses.
Fresno State's 311.5 blocks in 2017 were the second most in a season in program history (rally scoring era). The total was just 4.5 blocks shy of the single season program record of 316.0 blocks, set in 2003.

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