Bulldogs host Fresno State Invitational Thursday-Saturday

Thursday, August 30

Fresno, Calif.

7 P.M. PT

Fresno State

Saint Mary's

Bulldogs host Fresno State Invitational Thursday-Saturday

8/29/2018 2:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Fresno State Invitational Tournament Central (Complete Schedule)

Saint Mary's at Fresno State
Aug. 30, 2018 • 7:00 PM PT • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Video: MW Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak: Fresno State leads 6-5 • SMC W 5
Promotions

Back to School Night
Fans who bring in school supplies to donate get in free
Come see Zackeria Lovick deliver the first serve
The school with the most nominations will receive all of the evening's donations
Students from the winning school get in free with ID card or by wearing school shirt

American at Fresno State
Aug. 31, 2018 • 7:30 PM PT • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Video: MW Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak: American leads 1-0 • AU W 1
Promotions

High School Night
High school students get in free with valid school ID
First serve by a special fan who is Bulldog Born, Bulldog Bred

San Francisco at Fresno State
Sept. 1, 2018 • 1:00 PM PT • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Video: MW Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak: Fresno State leads 26-5 • USF W 1
Promotions

Family Day and National Tailgating Day
Play tailgate games on the concourse pregame
Special first serve by our family of the game
Family of the Game will be honored during the match
Participate in the 1000 Fan Challenge – if we hit 1000 fans in attendance, everyone will receive free admission to Saturday evening's Fresno State Football game

Complete Weekly Release (PDF)

You're Invited
• For the first time since the 2016 season the Bulldogs will host a tournament with the inaugural Fresno State Invitational.
• The 'Dogs welcome reigning Patriot League champion American along with Saint Mary's, San Francisco, and Cal Baptist for the three-day, eight match tournament.
• Fresno State will face American, Saint Mary's, and San Francisco while Cal Baptist will play only neutral site matches.

Scouting the Fresno State Invitational (Bulldog Opponents)
• Saint Mary's went just 1-2 at the Utah Volleyball Classic to open its season but the one victory was a 3-2 win over tournament host and 19th-ranked Utah. The Gaels also had a pair of 3-1 losses against Denver and UC Irvine. Saint Mary's was picked to finish seventh in the West Coast Conference Coaches' Poll after going 9-19 overall and 5-13 in the WCC last year. Through three matches the Gaels lead the WCC with 26.0 blocks but are 10th averaging just 10.85 kills per set. The Gaels have recorded 3-0 sweeps in each of the last five meetings with Fresno State.

• American won the Patriot League last season to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles were 26-8 overall and 15-1 in conference play in 2017 and returned all seven of their starters and 13 total letter winners. American went 2-1 at the D.C. Volleyball Challenge last week, beating George Mason and George Washington before a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Stanford. AU has averaged 2.00 aces and 2.70 blocks per set this season with Loren McKenzie averaging 1.60 blocks per set. The 'Dogs and Eagles have met once before, a 3-2 American win in 2013.

• San Francisco was unanimously picked last in the preseason WCC poll after going 3-28 overall and 0-18 in conference matches last year, losing 22 straight matches to end the season. The Dons have 11 new players this season and already have two wins as the squad beat Quinnipiac and Army last weekend in West Point while losing to UT San Antonio. USF has averaged 2.42 blocks per set so far this year but is hitting just .194 as a team. The Dons and 'Dogs played twice last year in San Francisco, splitting the two matches, and Fresno States is 26-5 all-time vs. USF.

Spectacular Start
• Fresno State has opened the 2018 season 4-0 by winning all three of its matches to claim the tournament title at the EIU Panther Invitational and sweeping Fresno Pacific 3-0.
• Sophomore Reagan Leonard was named MVP of the EIU Panther Invitational while Taylor Slover also made the All-Tournament team as the 'Dogs scored wins over Valparaiso, Eastern Illinois, and Saint Francis (PA) before sweeping FPU for the fifth consecutive season.

Super Support
• A crowd of 1,583 fans packed the Save Mart Center on Tuesday in Fresno State's home opener. The crowd gives the 'Dogs the 12th highest average home attendance in all of NCAA Div. I so far this season.
• Last season Fresno State ranked fourth in the Mountain West averaging 801 fans over ten official home dates.

Home Cooking
• Dating back to the 2016 season the Bulldogs have won 10 of their last 13 home matches. The 'Dogs are also on a four-match home winning streak dating back to last season.
• Fresno State was 7-3 at home last season, outblocking its opponents 124-76 at home while outhitting the opposition .222-.178 over 38 home sets.
• The squad has had a winning home record in each of the last two years and in five of the last six seasons.

Digging History
• In just her second career start at libero Reagan Leonard broke the single-match program record with 38 digs in the 'Dogs 3-1 win over Eastern Illinois. Her total was one dig better than the previous record of 37 digs, set by Mounia Nihipali vs. San Jose State in 2004.
• Leonard had at least 21 digs in all three matches at EIU to average 5.71 digs per set for the week, nearly a dig better than any other MW player in the opening week of the season.
• For her efforts Leonard was named MVP of the EIU Panther Invitational as well as MW Defensive Player of the Week.

Strong in the Back
• Fresno State ranks second in the MW in both digs per set (16.24) and service aces per set (2.06) so far this season.
• The 'Dogs have had more digs and more aces than their opponent in three of four matches and have 35 total aces this year, more than double their number of aces allowed (17).

Breakout Star
• Senior Jessica Gilbert has moved into the starting lineup this season and leads the team with 3.47 kills and 4.29 points per set while hitting .320 and adding 1.71 digs and 0.88 blocks per set.
• Gilbert has had at least 10 kills in all four matches and has hit .250 or better in all four. She had career highs of 19 kills and 15 digs against Eastern Illinois to earn her first double-double.
• In her first season with the 'Dogs in 2017 after transferring from Eastern Washington, Gilbert played in just 12 matches and 21 sets while totaling 22 kills.

Starting Strong
• The Bulldogs have now won their season opener in eight of the last 11 seasons. The 'Dogs have also started 2-0 in each of the last three seasons, extending to a 5-0 start in 2016.
• Fresno State has an even more impressive winning streak in its first true road game of the season, having now won eight straight road openers. The last time the 'Dogs lost their first road game of the season was at Utah Valley in 2010.

Going Long
• Fresno State played 14 of a possible 15 sets in its three matches at the EIU Panther Invitational, playing a pair of five-set matches and a four-setter.
• The squad played its most sets through the first three matches of a season since the 2013 team began the year with three straight five-set matches.

Double-Double Madness
• The Bulldogs recorded five double-doubles in three matches at Eastern Illinois. The team had a grand total of seven double-doubles in 30 matches last season.
• Madelyn Halteman and Taylor Slover each had two double-doubles while Jessica Gilbert had one. The 'Dogs had at least one double-double in all three matches with two against both Eastern Illinois and Valparaiso.

Welcome Back
• Fresno State returns the majority of its 2017 roster for the 2018 season as five starters and 11 total players represent more the 75% of the 2018 team.
• Half of the team is comprised of seniors, as seven seniors, one junior, and four sophomores return with a total of 18 years of playing experience as Bulldogs.

Welcome Aboard
• Mixing with the veteran roster is a new coaching staff led by former Washington indoor volleyball assistant and head beach volleyball coach Jonathan Winder. His assistant coaches are Hardy Wooldridge and former Bulldog libero Maggie Eppright.
• The 'Dogs also have three new players in freshmen Kava Durr and Lauren Sabbatini and sophomore transfer Jocelyn Rodriguez, who played as a freshman at San Francisco State.

Fantastic Finish
• The Bulldogs ended the 2017 season on a very high note, winning three of their last four matches with consecutive home wins to end the year.
• Fresno State earned a 3-1 win over Wyoming in its penultimate match of the season, knocking off a Cowgirl squad that finished second in the MW and advanced to the NIVC postseason tournament, then swept UNLV 3-0 with a 25-8 final set to end the season.

Seven Seniors
• Fresno State leads all MW schools with seven seniors on its 2018 roster. The seniors have totaled 13 years of playing experience with the program.
• Air Force is second in the MW with five seniors while no other team has more than three. The other 10 MW schools have 19 total seniors, an average of less than two seniors per team.

Alumnae Opener
• The Bulldogs played their annual Alumnae Match on Aug. 18, with the 2018 squad earning a 4-0 win.
• Haile Watson led the 'Dogs with 13 kills while hitting .579 and Taylor Slover tallied 10 kills, four aces, 12 digs and a block. Montez Uigaese had nine kills and led the team with six blocks and Madelyn Halteman totaled 35 assists.

Championship Pedigree
• New Fresno State head coach Jonathan Winder has won championships throughout his career as a player and coach.
• At Washington, Winder helped lead the Huskies to a pair of Pac-12 indoor championships and multiple weeks with the No. 1 national ranking with consecutive NCAA Elite Eight appearances.
• During his playing career, Winder led Pepperdine to the 2004 National Championship as well as three MPSF conference titles and helped team USA win the 2007 Pan American Cup.

'Dogs Picked Seventh
• Fresno State was picked seventh in the preseason MW Coaches' Poll. The 'Dogs received 39 points in the poll to be picked ahead of Utah State, Air Force, Nevada, and UNLV in the 11-team league. Colorado State earned 10 first-place votes and was picked to repeat as conference champion.
• The 7th-place pick was three spots higher than the 'Dogs were voted last season when the coaches picked Fresno State to finish 10th. The Bulldogs finished tied for eighth in the league in 2017.

Loaded Schedule
• In 2018 the Bulldogs will play three matches vs. 2017 NCAA Tournament teams and have five contests against teams that played in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) last year. The squad will also face a Pac-12 foe for the second consecutive season, taking on Cal in Portland.
• The 'Dogs play MW champion Colorado State twice and face defending Patriot League champion and NCAA qualifier American. UC Irvine reached the third round of the NIVC last season while MW squads Wyoming and Boise State also made the 2017 postseason.
• In 2017 Fresno State had three wins against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams, beating UNLV twice and defeating 2016 SWAC champion Alabama State.

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