‘Dogs down South Dakota State, edged by LSU in Arizona

Friday, September 13

Flagstaff, AZ

10:00 AM PT

Fresno State

4-3

LSU

4-2

Fresno State

LSU

‘Dogs down South Dakota State, edged by LSU in Arizona

9/13/2019 8:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – In two matches on Friday to open the Lumberjack Invitational, Fresno State took a 3-1 (21-25, 25-17, 18-25, 15-25) loss to SEC foe LSU before bouncing back with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-17) win over South Dakota State.

Fresno State (5-3) took a set off of LSU (4-2) before battling back to defeat South Dakota State (3-5) after dropping the first set. Junior Desiree Sukhov led the 'Dogs in kills in both matches, tallying 16 kills against LSU and a match-high 14 in the win over South Dakota State.

The 'Dogs got big contributions from Montez Uigaese on Friday as the senior had a career-high 12 kills on .429 hitting vs. LSU and had six kills in the night cap. Amilya Thompson totaled 10 kills and just one error against the Jackrabbits while freshman Arizona native Grace Doyle had a career-high nine blocks and five kills in the win over SDSU and had four blocks vs. LSU.

How it Happened – vs. LSU
LSU led for the entirety of the first set but the 'Dogs made a strong run in the late stages. The Tigers led 8-4 but the 'Dogs got back within an 11-10 deficit. LSU then went on an 11-1 run to take a 22-11 lead, but Fresno State had a 10-2 run to get all the way back to 24-21. The 'Dogs saved four set points before the Tigers converted on their fifth attempt.

Fresno State's momentum carried into the second set, which was tied 9-9 before a 5-1 run gave the 'Dogs a 14-10 lead. Fresno State hit .429 in the set with just three attack errors, leading by as many as eight points at 22-14. LSU came back within a 23-17 deficit before the 'Dogs finished it off with a kill from Uigaese and an LSU ball handling error to level the match (watch).

LSU jumped to a 6-0 lead in the third set and led 13-4 to force Fresno State to use both of its timeouts early. The 'Dogs rallied back and got within four points at 18-14. Uigaese had four kills on just five swings in the set but the Tigers tallied 17 kills and just three errors in the period. Taylor Bannister had six of her match-high 18 kills on six attacks in the set, getting LSU to set point with a kill before a Bulldog attack error closed it.

After committing only three attack errors in the third set LSU had just one error in the fourth as the 'Dogs were held without a block in each of the last two sets. The teams both had 12 kills in the set but LSU had five blocks. The 'Dogs trailed just 16-14 and were within three points at 18-15 but LSU ended the set on a 7-0 run to win the match in four.

How it Happened – vs. South Dakota State
The first set was tied seven times but the Jackrabbits pulled away late. Both teams had 13 kills and two blocks in the set but SDSU had two service aces and no errors while the 'Dogs had no aces and three errors. The set was even 12-12 before a 7-1 run by the Jackrabbits created some separation. The 'Dogs trailed just 22-19 but SDSU scored the next three points to win the set.

Fresno State led for the entirety of the second set, jumping ahead 4-1 and 8-3. The 'Dogs hit .500 in the set with 16 kills and two errors, led by five kills and no errors from Thompson. South Dakota State hit .125 in the set and trailed but at least six points before the 'Dogs ended the set 25-16 on consecutive kills from Amaria Kelley and Sukhov.

The 'Dogs dominated for most of the third set as well, taking a 14-10 advantage and turning a 16-12 lead into a 21-12 edge with a 5-0 run. South Dakota State hit -.100 in the set with only six kills and eight attack errors and the 'Dogs reached set point on an ace from Doyle before Rebecca Rendahl ended it with a kill (watch).

Doyle had five of her nine blocks against the Jackrabbits in the fourth set. The set had 14 ties and seven lead changes as the 'Dogs held the Jackrabbits to .031 hitting. South Dakota State led 16-15 before the 'Dogs embarked on a 9-0 run that included three blocks, all assisted by Doyle, a kill from Sukhov, an ace from Reagan Leonard, and four errors by the 'Jacks. SDSU saved one match point before Sukhov landed her 14^th kill to complete a 10-1 match-ending spurt by the Bulldogs (watch).

Notes

Doyle's nine blocks were three more than Fresno State's previous season high and the most by a Bulldog since Jessica Gilbert had 11 blocks against UNLV last season.
Sukhov recorded her fourth straight double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs vs. LSU before falling just short of a fifth straight with 14 kills and eight digs vs. South Dakota State.
Uigaese topped her previous career high of nine kills, set against Nevada in 2017.
Kelley had a career-high six kills hitting .625 against South Dakota State.
Fresno State used a season-high 13 players in the match against South Dakota State.
The Bulldogs played a team from the state of South Dakota for the first time in program history.
Junior Savanah Smith missed both matches on Friday due to injury.

What's Next
Fresno State concludes play in the Lumberjack Classic on Saturday taking on tournament host Northern Arizona at noon.

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