‘Dogs head to Arizona for Lumberjack Classic

Friday, September 13

Flagstaff, AZ

10:00 AM PT

Fresno State

LSU

‘Dogs head to Arizona for Lumberjack Classic

9/11/2019 10:56:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Fresno State Notes (PDF)Lumberjack Classic Tournament Central

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Fresno State vs. LSU
Sept. 13, 2019 • 10:00 AM PT • Rolle Activity Center (1,210) • Flagstaff, Ariz.
Watch: None
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak • Last : LSU Leads 1-0 • LSU W 1 • LSU 3-0 (11/17/90)

Fresno State vs. South Dakota State
Sept. 13, 2019 • 5:00 PM PT • Rolle Activity Center (1,210) • Flagstaff, Ariz.
Watch: None
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak • Last : First Meeting

Fresno State at Northern Arizona
Sept. 14, 2019 • 12:00 PM PT • Rolle Activity Center (1,210) • Flagstaff, Ariz.
Watch: None
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak • Last : FS Leads 6-3 • NAU W 1 • NAU 3-1 (8/31/12)

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State went 2-1 in each of its first two tournaments of the season with two 3-0 sweeps
Madelyn Halteman and Desiree Sukhov have both been two-time All-Tournament selections
The Bulldogs handed Santa Clara its first loss of the season after the Broncos began the year 6-0
On Friday Fresno State will face a team from South Dakota for the first time in program history
The 'Dogs will face LSU for the first time since 1990. Northern Arizona won the Big Sky last year

By The Numbers
30 - Kills by Desiree Sukhov vs. Santa Clara, tied for the fourth most in a match in program history
5 - Players in program history with 3,000 assists after Madelyn Halteman reached 3K last week
29 - National rank for the Bulldogs with an opposing hitting percentage of .175

Scouting LSU (3-2)

LSU has started 3-2 in 2019 after finishing 12-17 last year. The Tigers were picked seventh among 13 teams in the SEC preseason poll with Taylor Bannister a Preseason All-SEC selection.
The Tigers have been a strong blocking team thus far with 2.50 blocks per set but are hitting just .163 and average less than 13 digs per set. Bannister leads the team with 3.71 kills per set.
LSU has made 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently in 2017. The 'Dogs and Tigers have met once before, a 3-0 LSU win at a late-season tournament at Arizona in 1990.

Scouting South Dakota State (3-3)

At 3-3 South Dakota State has already reached half its win total from 2018, in which the team finished 6-23. Entering 2019 the team was 18-98 in four seasons under coach Nicole Cirillo.
The Jackrabbits have wins over Eastern Illinois, Louisiana Monroe, and Prairie View A&M over the first two weeks of the season, averaging just 1.70 blocks with a .265 opposing hit percent.
Makenzie Hennen leads the team with 3.61 kills per set. The 'Dogs and Jackrabbits will meet for the first time in what will be Fresno State's first ever match against a team from the state.

Scouting Northern Arizona (3-3)

Northern Arizona won the Big Sky and played in the NCAA Tournament last year, taking a set off Washington State. The Lumberjacks were picked to repeat their Big Sky title in 2019.
NAU pushed then-No. 15 Michigan to five sets in Ann Arbor in the first week of the season and defeated Seton Hall and La Salle last week. The team is 67-14 at home in the last seven seasons.
Senior Abby Akin ranks third in the nation this season with 40 blocks and is hitting .430. Fresno State holds a 6-3 edge in the all-time series but NAU won the last meeting in 2012.

Des Delivers

In her first home matches as a Bulldog, junior outside hitter Desiree Sukhov had double-doubles in all three games in the Fresno State Invitational while (literally) shouldering the load offensively.
Sukhov led the team in kills and attacks in all three matches. In two matches on Friday, the CSU Bakersfield transfer totaled 53 kills on 114 attacks, with 73 swings vs. Santa Clara.
In the five-set win over Santa Clara 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.
Sukhov had 23 kills on a team season-best .512 hitting percentage vs. Santa Clara and had at least 12 digs in all three matches.

Undefeated No More

The Bulldogs completed the Fresno State Invitational with a thrilling 5-set win over Santa Clara, which entered the match undefeated at 6-0 on the season.
The Broncos had gone 4-0 at a tournament in Indiana, including a sweep of the host Hoosiers, before beating CSU Bakersfield and CSUN in its first two matches of the Fresno State tournament.
Fresno State defeated Santa Clara for the first time since 1996

All-Tournament Honors

Madelyn Halteman, Reagan Leonard, and Desiree Sukhov were named to the Fresno State Invitational All-Tournament team.
Halteman and Sukhov earned all-tournament selections for the second time in as many weeks this season after also receiving the honor at the season-opening GBD Invite.

Ms. 3000

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 Thursday.
Halteman ranks 5th in program history in career assists and her current total of 3,124 assists is just 224 assists shy of fourth place.
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 leads the league and ranks 30th in NCAA Div. I averaging 10.95 assists per set.

Defensive Dominance

Fresno State enters the week ranked 29th in NCAA Div. I allowing just a .175 opposing hitting percentage this season.
The Bulldogs have held two opponents under .100 this season and held five of their six opponents to a .216 or lower percentage.
With their strong defense the 'Dogs are averaging nearly two kills per set more than their opponents.

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.
Reagan Leonard leads the way with 4.36 digs per set but Madelyn Halteman, Desiree Sukhov, and Jocelyn Rodriguez also all average more than two digs per set.
The 'Dogs have six total players with more than 20 digs this season

Super Support

Through its first three home matches of the season Fresno State has averaged 1,102 fans, second highest in the MW and fourth most among all California schools. The 'Dogs have a higher average home attendance than Pac-12 schools Arizona and Colorado.
Last season Fresno State ranked second in the MW in average home attendance, trailing only 15-time MW champion Colorado State, and was one of just four NCAA Div. I schools in California to average more than 1,000 fans per match.
The team topped 1,000 fans in 10 of 13 home matches. By comparison, the 'Dogs played only one road match last season (of 13) in which the opponent had more than 1,000 fans (at Colorado State).

Starting Strong

The Bulldogs won their season opener for the third straight season and the ninth time in the last 12 seasons.
The 'Dogs have also now started 2-0 in each of the last four seasons.

Aces Aplenty

Fresno State ranks second in the MW with 1.77 service aces per set while having more aces than its opponent in five of six matches.
Madelyn Halteman leads the team with eight aces while Desiree Sukhov and Jocelyn Rodriguez each have seven, with Rodriguez committing just two service errors all year.
The 'Dogs had a season-high 11 aces in the win over Santa Clara, just two shy of the program five-set match record.

Everybody In

All 15 players on the 2019 roster have seen action over the first two weeks of the season.
The 'Dogs used 14 different players in the season-opening GBD Invite and the one that didn't play, Amaria Kelley, saw court time vs. CSU Bakersfield after returning from injury.
The 'Dogs have 11 different players that have seen action in at least five of the first six matches.

Pride Of The Valley

Fresno State's historic 2018 season was largely fueled by five starters and six total players who remained in the Central Valley.
The 'Dogs will heavily rely upon home-grown talent again in 2019 as two of those starters, Madelyn Halteman (Turlock) and Jocelyn Rodriguez (Clovis), are back and the team added five more Central Valley players in Amaria Kelley (Sacramento), Mikayla Weiss (Clovis), Savanah Smith (Roseville), Amilya Thompson (Stockton), and Julia Handy (Hilmar)

-- 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