Bulldogs edged by UNLV in five sets in NIVC 2nd round

Friday, November 30

Las Vegas, Nev.

7 P.M. PT

Fresno State

22-11

UNLV

21-11

Fresno State

UNLV

Bulldogs edged by UNLV in five sets in NIVC 2nd round

11/30/2018 10:50:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A night after beating UC Santa Barbara in five sets for the program's first postseason win in 23 years, Fresno State played another marathon match against UNLV but came up short in a 3-2 (25-19, 16-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-7) win by the Rebels in the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) in Las Vegas.

Fresno State (22-11) saw its season come to an end after recording its most wins and first postseason appearance since 2002 and winning its first postseason match since 1995. UNLV (21-11), which was defeated by the Bulldogs twice during the regular season, advanced to the third round of the NIVC and will play at Portland next week.

The biggest difference statistically in Friday's match compared to the two meetings between the teams during the regular season was serving. The 'Dogs had 17 aces and just nine errors while UNLV had 11 aces and 29 errors over the two regular season matches, but on Friday the 'Dogs had six aces and 11 errors and the Rebels had 12 aces and 11 errors.

Taylor Slover closed her Bulldog career with a team-high 16 kills along with nine digs and four blocks. Haile Watson had six blocks and eight kills in her last match and Jessica Gilbert hit .364 with six kills, four blocks, and three aces. Madelyn Halteman had her 11^th double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs, Kava Durr had 10 kills, and Reagan Leonard had 19 digs.

How it Happened
UNLV hit lights out in the first set to take the early lead. The Rebels hit .419 with 15 kills and just two attack errors as the 'Dogs were limited to one block. UNLV led for most of the set but the 'Dogs stayed close and trailed by just an 18-17 deficit, but a 4-0 run put the Rebels ahead 22-17 and they won the set 25-19 on a Bulldog attack error.

Fresno State jumped out to a massive 8-0 lead and was up 11-1 to run away with the second set. The 'Dogs blocking came back strong in set two as Fresno State totaled four blocks in the set and UNLV hit -.065 in the period with just six kills and eight attack errors. The Bulldogs hit .308 in the set and led by at least six points for the remainder, winning it 25-16 on a UNLV attack error.

There were seven ties and five lead changes in the third set. Fresno State held UNLV to just a .097 hitting percentage in the set but the Bulldogs hit -.029 with 10 kills and 11 errors. After trailing 13-12, the 'Dogs went on a 6-1 run to pull ahead 18-14. Fresno State was still up by three at 20-17 before UNLV scored six straight points and went on to end the set on an 8-1 run with four of the points coming on Bulldog attack errors (two blocked).

The Bulldogs had a big run of their own late in the fourth set to push the match to five. With nine ties and six lead changes in the set neither team ever led by more than three points. UNLV scored two straight points to move three points from the match win up 22-21, but the Bulldogs responded with a Slover Kill, an Aubrey Folk kill, another Slover kill, and a Halteman ace to end the set on a 4-0 run and force the fifth.

Fresno State led 4-3 early in the fifth set but a 5-0 UNLV run put the home team up 8-4. The 'Dogs had just four kills and six attack errors in the set, hitting -.105, as UNLV recorded a pair of blocks and hit .364. The Rebels extended their 5-0 run to an 11-2 spurt, reaching match point up 14-6 and winning 15-7 on the 18^th kill from Mariena Hayden.

Quotes

Head Coach Jonathan Winder

On the season…
"I told the players at the beginning of the season we wanted to build the team that we are proud to coach, and we are extremely proud to coach every individual on this 2018 team. We played a really high level of volleyball for long periods of time throughout the season and the match tonight. I'm grateful for the seniors for the legacy that they created and excited about the future of Bulldog volleyball."

Team Season Notes

With 22 wins the 'Dogs had their most wins since the 2002 team finished the year 23-7.
Coach Jonathan Winder had the most wins by a first year coach in program history.
Fresno State's second place finish in the MW was its best since joining the conference and its 13 conference wins were a new program record.
The Bulldogs finished the year with 1,999 digs, topping the previous single-season team record of 1,880 digs set in 2004.
The 'Dogs had 316.0 blocks to tie the single season program record set in 2003.
Fresno State's 1,595 assists were the second most in a season in program history.
The team finished third in program history in kills (1,686), hitting percentage (.230), and service aces (171)

Player Season/Career Notes

Fresno State had a record-high four players earn All-MW honors
Leonard broke the single-season program digs record on Thursday and finished the year with 605 digs.
Watson's 156 total blocks tied for fourth most in a season in program history and her 132 blocks assists were third most.
Watson's .315 hitting percentage was ninth best in a season.
Watson ended her career fifth in program history with 402 career blocks despite playing just three seasons at Fresno State.
Halteman will enter her senior season in 2019 ranked fifth in program history with 2,883 career assists.

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