'Dogs welcome Utah State & Boise State to Fresno

Thursday, October 24

Fresno, CA

6:00 PM PT

Fresno State

Utah State

Photo by: Keith Kountz

'Dogs welcome Utah State & Boise State to Fresno

10/22/2019 1:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Fresno State Notes (PDF)Utah State Notes (PDF)Boise State Notes (PDF)Mountain West Weekly Release (PDF)

By: Travis Blanshan / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State volleyball team returns home this week to host Utah State on Thursday and Boise State on Saturday at the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State vs. Utah State
Oct. 24, 2019 • 6:00 PM PT • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History: FS leads 19-13
Streak: FS W 3
Last: FS 3-0 (11/3/18)

Fresno State vs. Boise State
Oct. 26, 2019 • 11:30 AM PT • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History: FS leads 20-18
Streak: BSU W10
Last: BSU 3-2 (11/1/18)

Promotions
Thursday: Student Night

Help welcome some of the amazing clubs, organizations, and student groups that make Fresno State so great!
Army ROTC pushup crew on hand at the beginning of each timeout break.
Come check out our Junior Bulldog Kids Zone pregame!
- Bulldog Bingo, Pop-A-Shot, Cornhole, Jenga & Poster Making Station!

Saturday: Halloween Party

Kids in costume get in FREE!
Participate in the 1000 Fan Challenge – if we hit 1000 fans in attendance, everyone will receive free admission to the Fresno State Football game at 4:30 p.m. against Colorado State!
Hang out in our Junior Bulldog Kids Zone pregame and get your face painted!
- Bulldog Bingo, Pop-A-Shot, Cornhole, Jenga & Poster Making Station
Enjoy our costume parade at intermission!

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State returns home to host Utah State on Thursday and Boise State on Saturday.
The 'Dogs went 1-1 last week sweeping San Diego State at home before losing in four sets at Air Force.
Fresno State is 6-0 at home against USU since the Aggies entered the MW in 2013.
The Bulldogs are 1-6 at home versus Boise State since 2012 with their lone win in 2012.
The 'Dogs head to Boise State on Nov. 21 & conclude the regular season at Utah State on Nov. 23.

By The Numbers
25 - 'Dogs National Rank in Aces per set at 1.71 to rank second in the Mountain West
9 - Double-doubles by junior outside hitter Desiree Sukhov
1 - Where Sukhov ranks in the MW in kills, kills per set, points, points per set

Scouting Utah State (2-18, 2-6 MW)

Utah State comes into Thursday's match with a 2-18 overall record & a 2-6 mark in the MW.
The Aggies, who are 1-5 on the road this season, have secured MW wins over San Jose State at home in five sets and on the road at New Mexico in five sets.
USU ranks third in the MW in blocks (186) and blocks per set (2.48).
Freshman outside hitter Hailey Cuff leads the Aggies with 2.27 kills per set.
Junior opposite side hitter Bailey Downing ranks sixth in the MW in blocks (80).
Utah State was selected 10th in the MW preseason poll and is coming off a 5-24 season in 2018 and a 3-15 mark in the MW.

Scouting Boise State (12-7, 4-4 MW)

Boise State is 12-7 on the season with a 4-4 mark in Mountain West play.
The Broncos, who are 3-3 on the road this season, have notched MW wins over Utah State, Air Force, San Jose State and New Mexico.
BSU leads the MW in blocks (208.0), ranks second in blocks per set (2.93) and is third in digs per set (14.73) and opponent hitting percentage (.187).
Sophomore middle blocker Jessica Donahue leads the MW and ranks fifth nationally in blocks per set (1.52).
Boise State was selected fourth in the MW preseason poll & went 18-11 and 10-8 in MW play in 2018.

First Things First

Fresno State has won the first set in 11 of its 20 matches of the year.
The Bulldogs are 9-2 this year when winning the first set but 2-7 when losing it.

'Dogs in four-way tie for fourth place in MW

With four weeks of Mountain West play in the books, and five weeks remaining, the 'Dogs find themselves in a four-way tie for fourth in the league.
The 'Dogs are tied with Nevada, Boise State and Air Force at 4-4 in the MW.

Final Mountain West opponents

Utah State and Boise State are the final two Mountain West opponents the 'Dogs have not played this season.
The 'Dogs will see eight of the 10 MW foes a second time around as the Bulldogs will not see Nevada and San Jose State again in the regular season.

Des Delivers

In her first season with the Bulldogs, junior Desiree Sukhov leads the Mountain West with 4.07 kills and 4.69 points per set.
Sukhov's 4.07 kills per set ranks 42nd in NCAA Div. I and she has led the team in kills in 15 of 20 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 3,590 career assists as she is 755 away from second place (Diann Aufdermaur - 4,345).
Halteman was an All-MW selection last year and ranks second in the MW in service aces (27), third in aces per set (0.39) & assists per set (10.11) and fourth in assists (708).

Digs all Around

A big factor in Fresno State's defensive success has been depth in digging helping the squad rank fourth in the MW in digs per set at 14.69.
Reagan Leonard leads the way with 4.60 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 69 shy of seventh place (Korrin Wild - 1,203).

Aces Advantage

Fresno State ranks first in the MW with 1.71 service aces per set while having more aces than its opponent in 14 of 20 matches with a 120-77 edge in aces for the year.
Halteman leads the team with 27 aces while Grace Doyle has added 23 and Sukhov has 22.
The 'Dogs had a season-high 11 aces in the win over Santa Clara, just two shy of the program five-set match record.

New Kid on the Block

Freshman Grace Doyle recorded a career high and team season-high nine blocks in Fresno State's win over South Dakota State on Sept. 13.
Doyle added 12 blocks in three matches at the Roadrunner Classic and leads the team with 68 on the season.
The nine blocks were the most in a match by a Bulldog since Jessica Gilbert had 11 blocks at UNLV last November.

Up next
The Bulldogs hit the road next week traveling to UNLV (10-9, 6-2 MW) on Oct. 31 and New Mexico (6-14, 1-7 MW) on Nov. 2.

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

"Fresno State Athletics: The Pride of the Valley"" – The Bulldog Foundation creates championship experiences for Fresno State student-athletes as they strive for excellence in the classroom, in competition, and in life. To become a BDF member, please call 559-278-7160.

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