'Dogs travel to Air Force on Thursday

FRESNO, Calif. - Completing a run of four matches in eight days, the Fresno State volleyball team heads to Air Force on Thursday.

Fresno State at Air Force
Oct. 17, 2019 • 5:30 PM PT • Cadet East Gym (700) • USAFA, Colo.
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History: Fresno State leads 9-7
Streak: AF W4
Last: AF 3-0 (11/19/18)

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State swept San Diego State at home on Monday & travels to Air Force on Thursday.
The 'Dogs dropped a pair of matches on the road last week at No. 15 Colorado State & Wyoming.
Fresno State improved to 4-3 at home against San Diego State since moving to the MW in 2012 winning the last three meetings in Fresno.
The Bulldogs are 1-5 at Air Force since 2012 with its lone win coming in a sweep in 2015.

By The Numbers
10 - Season-high kills for Amaria Kelley on Oct. 12 at Wyoming
3,500 - Career assists amassed by Madelyn Halteman who passed the benchmark on Oct.12 at Wyoming.
1 - Where Desiree Sukhov ranks in the MW in kills, kills per set, points, points per set.

Scouting Air Force (5-13, 2-4 MW)

Air Force is 5-13 on the season with a 2-4 mark in Mountain West play.
The Falcons, who are 2-7 at home this season, have secured MW wins over Utah State and Nevada.
Air Force, picked to finish ninth in the MW preseason poll, is second in the MW in digs and total attacks and third in assists and kills.
Junior defensive specialist Alex King leads the MW in digs (311) and ranks fourth in digs per set (4.51).
Junior setter Andi Ahlers ranks sixth in the MW in total assists (575).
Air Force is led by first-year head coach Keith Barnett and went 17-15 in 2018.

First Things First

Fresno State has won the first set in 11 of its 19 matches of the year.
The Bulldogs are 9-2 this year when winning the first set but 2-6 when losing it.

Kelley sees expanded role

Limited to only five matches and action in nine sets entering last week, freshman outside hitter Amaria Kelley saw action in all six sets and delivered with nine kills against No. 15 CSU and added a season-best 10 kills at Wyoming.

Des Delivers

In her first season with the Bulldogs, junior Desiree Sukhov leads the Mountain West with 4.09 kills and 4.70 points per set.
Sukhov's 4.09 kills ranks 43rd in NCAA Div. I and has led the team in kills in 14 of 19 matches this year.
In the 'Dogs five-set win over Santa Clara on Sept. 6, Sukhov tallied 30 kills, tied for the fourth most kills in a match in program history and the most since Korrin Wild had 31 kills in a match in 2012.

Halteman staying consistent

Madelyn Halteman, the longest tenured Bulldog and the lone fifth-year senior on the 2019 roster, became just the fifth player in program history to record 3,000 career assists as she reached the plateau during the second set against CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 5.
Halteman moved into third place in program history in career assists at No. 15 CSU and enters Thursday with 3,561 career assists as she is 784 away from second place (Diann Aufdermaur - 4,345).
Halteman was an All-MW selection last year ranking second in the MW with 9.88 assists per set, and so far this season she is averaging 10.10 assists per set.

Digs all Around

A big factor in Fresno State's defensive success has been depth in digging helping the squad rank second in the MW in digs per set at 15.09.
Reagan Leonard leads the way with 4.71 digs per set to rank first in the MW.
Leonard moved into eighth place in program history in digs on Saturday against UNLV on Oct. 5 and now is 80 shy of seventh place (Korrin Wild - 1,203).

Aces Advantage

Fresno State ranks first in the MW with 1.68 service aces per set while having more aces than its opponent in 13 of 19 matches with a 111-71 edge in aces for the year.
Halteman leads the team with 25 aces while Sukhov and Doyle have tallied 20 apiece.
The 'Dogs had a season-high 11 aces in the win over Santa Clara, just two shy of the program five-set match record.

Up next
The 'Dogs are back home for two matches at the Save Mart Center next week taking on Utah State (2-16, 2-4 MW) on Thursday, Oct. 24 and Boise State (12-5, 4-2 MW) on Saturday, Oct. 26.

-- For the full news and notes release, click on the Fresno State Notes link at the top of the page.

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'Dogs travel to Air Force on Thursday

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Players Mentioned

Madelyn Halteman

Amaria Kelley

Reagan Leonard

Desiree Sukhov

Fresno State Athletics

'Dogs travel to Air Force on Thursday

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Players Mentioned

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Reagan Leonard

Desiree Sukhov

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