Bulldogs sweep Aggies to close out season

Saturday, November 23

Logan, UT

12:00 PM PT

Fresno State

14-16, 7-11MW

Utah State

2-28, 2-16MW

Fresno State

Utah State

Photo by: Keith Kountz

Bulldogs sweep Aggies to close out season

11/23/2019 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Travis Blanshan / Assistant Director of Communications

LOGAN, Utah - The Fresno State volleyball team closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Utah State with a sweep over the Aggies at the Wayne Estes Center.

Fresno State (14-16, 7-11 MW) completed its 11th sweep of the season over Utah State (2-28, 2-16 MW) winning sets, 25-20, 26-24, 25-22.

The 'Dogs held an advantage over the Aggies in total attacks (113-109), kills (44-28), hitting percentage (.195-.110), service aces (11-4) and digs (50-37) as they used a late 10-1 rally in the third set to complete the sweep.

Leading the way for the 'Dogs and notching her 10th double-double of the season was junior outside hitter Desiree Sukhov who led the 'Dogs with 13 kills while adding 11 digs, two service aces and a block assist.

Junior outside hitter Amilya Thompson added 12 kills while hitting .348 and added five digs, three total blocks and two service aces.

Senior setter Madelyn Halteman recorded 25 assists in her 121st and final match as a Bulldog adding seven digs, a service ace and a block assist.

Junior libero Reagan Leonard led the 'Dogs with 13 digs and had a season-high three aces while fellow junior Jocelyn Rodriguez added 10 digs.

How It Happened
The opening set saw the two teams go back-and-forth getting out to an even 7-7 start after a kill from freshman outside hitter Amaria Kelley. The set stayed even at 14 apiece as Kelley threw down her fifth kill of the set to take a 15-14 lead. With the Aggies keeping it a one-point set at 19-18, the 'Dogs closed out the set on a 6-2 run scoring the final three points, getting two kills and an ace, to win 25-20.

The 'Dogs opened up the second set on a tear jumping out to a 9-3 lead before the Aggies responded with a 7-3 run to cut the 'Dogs lead to two at 12-10. A kill by senior middle blocker Montez Uigaese, playing in her final match as a Bulldog, put the Bulldogs ahead by four, 19-15, but Utah State climbed back in with seven of the next 10 points to even the set at 22 apiece. Back-to-back kills by Thompson and Sukhov put the 'Dogs on the edge of set point, but USU answered back with two points to tie the set at 24. The Bulldogs immediately answered back with kills by Uigaese and Kelley for a hard-fought 26-24 win.

A perfect 11-0 on the season when holding a 2-0 lead, the 'Dogs closed out the sweep in the third set despite falling behind 21-15. Fresno State closed out the set on a 10-1 tear scoring nine straight points, including eight with freshman Grace Doyle serving, as a kill by senior middle blocker McKenzie Kramer closed out the 25-22 win to clinch the sweep.

Notables

Fresno State won their fifth straight match over Utah State and improved to 3-3 in Logan since the Aggies joined the Mountain West in 2013.
Sukhov led the Bulldogs in kills in 19 matches this season and also recorded 19 matches with double-digit kills.
Leonard led the 'Dogs in digs in 25 matches and had 10 or more digs in a match in 23 matches.
The 'Dogs finished the season with 190 service aces to set a new single-season program record in the rally scoring era (since 2001) surpassing the previous high of 187 set in 2002.
Fresno State reached at least 14 wins for the 27^th time in program history (1976, '77, '79, '80, '81, '84, '88, '91, '92, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, '01, '02, '03, '04, '09, '11, '12, '13, '15, '16, '18, '19).
The 'Dogs picked up seven or more MW wins for the fifth time in eight seasons (2012, '13, '17, '18, '19).
With the win and Nevada's loss at home to No. 11 Colorado State, the 'Dogs and Wolf Pack tied for sixth in the MW at 7-11. It is the 'Dogs fourth top-six MW finish joining second-place in 2018 and a pair of fourth-place finishes in 2012 & 2013.
The 'Dogs 11 sweeps in a season are the most since 2002 when Fresno State finished that season with 15 sweeps.
Fresno State went 7-5 at home this season and the 'Dogs have now had a winning home record for four straight years and in seven of the last eight seasons.
Halteman finishes her Bulldog career third in career assists (3,851), tied for third in service aces (136), tied for fourth in aces per set (0.30), fifth in sets played (448) and ninth in assists per set (8.60).
Halteman tied for No. 10 in aces per set in a single season at 0.42 with Ruth Lawanson (1984).
Leonard finished the season with 465 digs, ninth-most in a single season, and her 4.47 digs per set ranks fifth-highest in a season.
Leonard will enter her senior season in 2020 in fourth place in program history in digs per set (3.68) and in sixth in career digs with 1,277 digs.
Grace Doyle finished her freshman season as a Bulldog in the top five in four categories among first-year 'Dogs. She tied for second in service aces (32), ranked second in total blocks (86) & block assists (77) and finished fifth in hitting percentage (.235) among Bulldog freshman in program history.

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