Volleyball heads to New Mexico and UNLV on final road trip

Thursday, November 8

Albuquerque, N.M.

6 P.M. PT

Fresno State

New Mexico

Volleyball heads to New Mexico and UNLV on final road trip

11/6/2018 12:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Fresno State (18-8, 10-3 MW) at New Mexico (14-12, 8-6 MW)
Nov. 8, 2018 • 6:00 PM PT • Johnson Center (4,800) • Albuquerque, N.M.
Video: MW Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak: New Mexico leads 14-13 • FS W 2

Fresno State (18-8, 10-3 MW) at UNLV (18-8, 9-5 MW)
Nov. 10, 2018 • 2:00 PM PT • Cox Pavilion (2,452) • Las Vegas, Nev.
Video: MW Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak: UNLV leads 10-9 • FS W 3

Complete Weekly Release (PDF)

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State (10-3) trails just Colorado State (12-2) in the MW and has 2 fewer losses than 3rd place
With 18 total wins the 'Dogs have equaled their most victories since the 2003 team finished 21-7
Taylor Slover was named MW Player of the Week averaging 4.25 kills and 3.25 digs per set last week
Jonathan Winder and UNLV's Dawn Sullivan are tied for 2nd in Div. I in wins by first year coaches
Fresno State beat both New Mexico and UNLV in Fresno; both teams are 5-2 in home MW matches

Scouting New Mexico (14-12, 8-6 MW)

New Mexico opened MW play 5-1, then lost four straight matches, and has now won three of its last four contests. The Lobos begin the week tied with Boise State for 5th in the league.
The Lobos are 7-3 overall at home this season with a 5-2 record in home MW matches.
In MW play New Mexico ranks no higher than fifth in the league in any statistical category and is last averaging 0.78 service aces per set. Lauren Twitty ranks third in both kills and points.
The 'Dogs held New Mexico to a .118 hitting percentage in a 3-0 sweep in Fresno on Oct. 13. Taylor Slover had a double-double and Haile Watson had six of the team's nine blocks.
The 'Dogs have won two straight vs. the Lobos but haven't won in Albuquerque since 2012.

Scouting UNLV (18-8, 9-5 MW)

UNLV opens the week tied for third in the MW after being picked last in the preseason poll.
The Rebels have won three straight and are 10-3 overall at home and 5-2 in home MW games.
For the season UNLV leads the MW and ranks second in NCAA Div. I with 195 service aces, but the Rebels also likely lead the nation with 301 service errors (that stat isn't officially tracked).
Mariena Hayden leads the nation with 86 aces but has 98 service errors. She also leads the MW averaging 4.45 kills per set and ranks second in NCAA Div. I 535.5 total points this year.
Fresno State beat UNLV, 3-1, in Fresno on Oct. 11. The 'Dogs outhit the Rebels .324-.210 and had an 11-5 edge in aces with eight fewer errors. The 'Dogs have won three straight meetings.

Top of the Mountain

•At 10-3 in MW play, Fresno State trails only Colorado State (12-2) for the conference lead. No other MW team has fewer than five league losses, as Wyoming and UNLV are both 9-5 and tied for third place.
Since joining the MW in 2012 the highest the 'Dogs have ever finished in the league is 4th place. The team finished in eighth place or lower in each of the last four seasons.

Historic Season

With an 18-8 overall record Fresno State has its most wins since finishing 18-13 in 2012. The last time the 'Dogs won more than 18 matches was in 2003, when the squad finished 21-7.
Fresno State is one win shy of matching the program record for conference wins. The 'Dogs won 11 MW matches in 2013, won 11 conference matches as a member of the WAC in 1992 and 1997, and had 11 league wins in the NorPac in 1984.
The fewest losses for a Bulldog team in the last 14 years was 13, in 2004 and 2012.

Winning on the Road

The Bulldogs are 7-3 in true road matches this season, more than doubling their road win total from last year in which the team finished 3-12 in road contests.
With five road MW wins the Bulldogs have more than doubled their total for the last two years, in which the 2016 and 2017 teams combined to go 2-16 in road MW (both were 1-8).
The last time the 'Dogs ended the season with an overall winning road record was 2013, when they finished 7-5, and the team's best MW road record was 5-5 in 2013.

Fantastic First Year

Jonathan Winder's 18 victories are tied with UNLV's Dawn Sullivan for second most by a first year coach in NCAA Div. I this year. Only Tennessee's Eve Rackham has more wins this season (20) in her first year leading her team.
Winder is three wins shy of 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 leading the 'Dogs in 1991.

All-Around Star

Senior Taylor Slover was named MW Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 4.25 kills and 3.25 digs per set with two double-doubles last week.
Slover has recorded double-doubles in seven MW matches and is third in the league with 13 double-doubles this year, the most by a Bulldog since Zana Bowens had 15 double-doubles in the 2014 season.
Slover is leading the 'Dogs in kills per set (3.72) and points per set (4.30) for the second straight season and this year she is also second on the team with 2.49 digs per set and 29 service aces.
She has recorded double-digit kills in 23 of 26 matches and double-digit digs in 13 matches while also contributing 48 blocks.

Better Blocking

Fresno State has had the same or more blocks than its opponent in 19 of 26 matches this year.
The Bulldogs are 17-2 this season when having the same or more blocks than their opponent but 1-6 when trailing in blocks.
In MW play Haile Watson leads the league averaging 1.48 blocks per set and has tallied at least four blocks in 12 of 13 matches.

She Can Dig It

Sophomore Reagan Leonard leads the MW averaging 4.76 digs per set this season and has been named MW Defensive Player of the Week twice this year.
Leonard's current digs per set average would be the third best in a season in program history and, with 481 digs this year, she could challenge the single-season program record of 573 digs, set by current Bulldog assistant coach Maggie Eppright in 2015.
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.

On Service

The service game has been a big factor in Fresno State's success this year as the team is undefeated (12-0) when leading in aces and 6-8 when trailing its opponent in aces.
The 'Dogs are averaging 1.57 aces per set in their 18 wins compared to 1.00 aces per set in the eight losses.

Central Valley Stars

Five of Fresno State's seven starters (six + libero) in conference play 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.

Getting Defensive

In MW matches the 'Dogs lead the league with 15.25 digs per set and are also second in opposing hitting percentage (.165), holding nine MW foes below a .200 hit percentage, and third in blocks per set (2.65).
In their 3-0 sweep at Utah State the 'Dogs held the Aggies to -.045 hitting (22 kills- 27 errors), the first time Fresno State has ever limited a MW opponent to a negative hitting percentage since joining the league.

First Set Success

The 'Dogs won the first set in each of their first seven MW matches and in 17 of 26 total matches this year
Fresno State is 15-2 when winning the first set and 3-6 when losing it.

Big Dig Night

Five different Bulldogs recorded double-digit digs last Thursday vs. Boise State
Senior Emily Dzubak led the way with 15 digs while Reagan Leonard (14 digs), Taylor Slover (13), Jocelyn Rodriguez (11), and Madelyn Halteman (10) also had double-digit dig totals.
The Bulldogs have had more digs than their opponent in 20 of 26 matches this year.

Home Cooking

Dating back to the 2016 season the Bulldogs have won 17 of their last 22 home matches.
Fresno State was 7-3 at home last season and is 8-2 in the Save Mart Center so far this year playing five of its last seven regular season matches in Fresno.
The squad has clinched a winning home record for the third straight year and the sixth time in the last seven seasons

Super Support

Fresno State is one of just five NCAA Div. I schools in California averaging more than 1,000 fans per match and ranks second in the MW in average attendance, trailing only 14-time MW champion Colorado State.
The team has topped 1,000 fans in seven of 10 home matches this year. By comparison, the 'Dogs have played only one road match this season (of 10) 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.

"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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