Bulldogs rally for 3-2 victory over American

Friday, August 31

Fresno, Calif.

7:30 P.M. PT

Fresno State

5-1

American

3-3

American

Fresno State

Bulldogs rally for 3-2 victory over American

8/31/2018 11:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Fresno State Invitational Tournament Central

FRESNO, Calif. – An epic second-set comeback, in which the 'Dogs saved seven set points and ended the set on a 9-0 run, helped lead Fresno State to a come-from-behind 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17, 15-10) victory over American on the second day of the Fresno State Invitational.

Fresno State (5-1) improved to 3-0 this season in five-set matches, as the Bulldogs beat an American (3-3) team that won the Patriot League last season and played in the NCAA Tournament. The 'Dogs improved as the match went on, holding American below .200 hitting in each of the last two sets and finishing the night with 11.0 team blocks and a .237-.222 edge in hitting percentage.

Freshman Kava Durr had her best match as a Bulldog, tallying a career-high 15 kills and hitting .481 with just two attack errors. Taylor Slover led the 'Dogs with 16 kills and added 10 digs for her third double-double of the season while Jessica Gilbert recorded 15 kills, nine digs, and six blocks, Montez Uigaese had a match-high seven blocks, and Madelyn Halteman had 47 assists and nine digs

How it Happened
The first set was the only one of the match in which the Bulldogs hit below .270, swinging at just a .053 clip with 12 kills and 10 attack errors. Fresno State scored the first four points of the set before a 17-4 run gave American a big lead. Trailing 23-12, the 'Dogs had a 6-0 spurt before the Eagles closed out the set.

American led 20-13 in the second set and reached set point at 24-17, needing just one point to take a 2-0 lead in the match. An Eagle service error and consecutive aces from Slover prompted the first AU timeout, and after two attack errors American burned its second timeout with its lead down to 24-22. A kill from Gilbert followed by another ace from Slover brought the 'Dogs even at 24-24, and the comeback would be complete after a kill from Durr and a block by Gilbert and Uigaese on Fresno State's first set point of the night.

The third set was the closest of the match with nine ties and three lead changes. American hit a match-best .361 with 16 kills and just three errors but, after the Eagles opened the set with a 7-3 lead, the Bulldogs battled back and eventually took a 22-19 lead late in the period. American was the team to end the third set on a big run, however, as the visitor closed the set with six straight points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Fresno State held American to just .083 hitting in the fourth set. The 'Dogs hit .273 and led for virtually the entire set, taking a quick 5-1 lead and extending to a 10-3 advantage. American got as close as a 19-16 deficit late but the Bulldogs ended the set with a 6-1 run to force the fifth.

The decisive set was tied 4-4 before the 'Dogs scored three straight points and extended to a 7-2 run to take an 11-6 lead. With the 'Dogs leading 13-10, an American service error gave Fresno State match point and the Bulldogs converted on Durr's 15^th kill of the night.

Quotes

Head Coach Jonathan Winder

On how the team found a way to win…
"I thought we played hard all night. We didn't play very well the first set but we were able to continue to get better. It's a gritty group; they play really hard on defense and Reagan Leonard, our libero, plays with incredible passion and it's infectious for the rest of the group. Everybody is playing tremendously hard when they are out there."

On the second-set comeback…
"Something like that instills a lot of confidence in the group when they know they can score at will. When we hit our serves like that we know we can score a lot of points, and it was amazing that Taylor was able to hit that many good, tough serves. It's something that we practice all the time and it's neat to get to see that show up in matches."

On the resiliency of the team…
"It's a tough group. They're together and are playing with and for each other right now and everybody has really bought in to what we're doing. The culture has been awesome."

Notes

The Bulldogs had four players recorded double-digit digs (Slover, Leonard, Jocelyn Rodriguez, and Emily Dzubak) and had two more players (Gilbert and Halteman) finish the night with nine.
Fresno State is 3-0 in five-set matches this season after tallying just two five-set wins all last year.
The 'Dogs have played at least four sets in five of their first six matches of the season, playing a total of 26 sets for an average of 4.3 sets per match.
In three other matches in the Fresno State Invitational on Friday, American beat San Francisco 3-0, Saint Mary's defeated Cal Baptist 3-1, and Cal Baptist beat San Francisco 3-1.

What's Next
The Fresno State Invitational concludes with two more matches on Saturday. American will take on Saint Mary's at 10 a.m. before Fresno State hosts San Francisco at 1 p.m. The complete Fresno State Invitational schedule can be found on the Tournament Central page.

"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.

Follow us on:
Twitter: @FresnoStateVB
Instagram: FresnoStatevball
Facebook: FresnoStateVB