‘Dogs sweep Aggies in three sets

Saturday, November 3

Fresno, Calif.

1 P.M. PT

Fresno State

18-8, 10-3MW

Utah State

5-20, 3-11MW

Utah State

Fresno State

‘Dogs sweep Aggies in three sets

11/3/2018 4:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Taylor Slover hit .310 with 14 kills and 13 digs and Fresno State held Utah State to a .011 hitting percentage in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-16) sweep on Saturday afternoon in the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State (18-8, 10-3) won for the 17^th time in its last 22 home matches while sweeping Utah State (5-20, 3-11 MW) for the second time this season. With 18 wins this season, Fresno State has its most victories since the 2012 team finished 18-13. And with still five matches remaining in the regular season, the 'Dogs are also just one win shy of matching the program record for conference wins in a season.

Slover recorded her 13^th double-double this year, the most by a Bulldog since the 2012 season. The 'Dogs had an 11.0-9.5 edge in blocks on Saturday with Haile Watson leading the way with a team season-high eight blocks in just three sets. Jessica Gilbert hit .375 with nine kills and Kava Durr also had nine kills while Reagan Leonard had 16 digs and Madelyn Halteman had 40 assists.

How it Happened
Despite the match finishing as a sweep, all three sets were competitive as there were a total of 12 ties and seven lead changes. Fresno State built an 18-10 lead in the first set before the Aggies battled back to as close as a 21-18 deficit with an 8-3 run. The 'Dogs reached set point at 24-18, but three straight Utah State points forced a timeout. On its fourth set point, Fresno State finished the set with a kill from Gilbert (watch).

The 'Dogs hit just .027 in the second set and trailed by a 12-8 margin. Fresno State had an 11-2 run to pull ahead 19-14 but, trailing 23-16, Utah State scored six straight points to cut Fresno State's lead to 23-22. Halteman followed with a solo block to make it 24-22, but again Utah State was able to dodge a set point. With the 'Dogs ahead 24-23, Gilbert finished again with a kill (watch).

Fresno State held Utah State to a -.133 hitting percentage in the third set as the Aggies had just five kills and nine attack errors in 30 swings. Despite that, Utah State actually held a 14-11 lead before the 'Dogs ended the match on a 14-2 run. Leading 18-16, Fresno State scored seven straight points to finish the set with four kills, a block, a Utah State attack error, and an ace from Leonard to end it (watch).

Notes

In two matches against Utah State this season the 'Dogs held the Aggies to a -.020 hitting percentage with 21.0 blocks in just six sets. Utah State hit -.045 against Fresno State when the teams met in Logan.
With her eight blocks on Saturday Watson moved ahead of Maci Murdock into sixth place on the program all-time blocks list with 367 in her career.
Montez Uigaese made her first appearance for the Bulldogs since Sept. 21 and gave the 'Dogs a boost in the third set, tallying four kills in just seven swings with three kills during the 7-0 run to end the match.
Fresno State had the same of more blocks than its opponent for the 19^th time in 26 matches this year, improving to 17-2 in those 19 matches.
With a 5-3 edge in service aces in the match the Bulldogs are now 12-0 this season when leading in aces.
The 'Dogs won the first set for the 17^th time this season and are 15-2 in those 17 matches.
Saturday's attendance was 1,064 as Fresno State drew more than 1,000 fans for the seventh time this season. By comparison, the Bulldogs have played only one road match this season (of 10) in which the opponent had more than 1,000 fans (at Colorado State).

Quotes

Head Coach Jonathan Winder

On the match…
"The Boise State match and Colorado State match taught us a lot about our team. We're learning how to compete and play each point independently and manage the game. I think every Saturday match has been a little messy. We didn't play perfect but I thought we continued to battle and started to play pretty hard at the end"

On the play of Taylor Slover…
"I thought she was really good. She's probably put together five or six matches in a row where she's been one of the better outsides in our conference. That's been huge for our team. She's really hitting her stride being able to play at a really high level."

What's Next
Fresno State has its final road trip of the season next week, playing at New Mexico on Thursday and at UNLV next Saturday. The 'Dogs beat both the Lobos and the Rebels in Fresno earlier this year.

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