Volleyball jumps into MW play hosting Nevada; travels to SJSU

Thursday, September 26

Fresno, CA

6:00 PM PT

Fresno State

Nevada

Photo by: Keith Kountz

Volleyball jumps into MW play hosting Nevada; travels to SJSU

9/24/2019 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Fresno State Notes (PDF)Nevada Notes SJSU Notes Mountain West Weekly Release

By: Travis Blanshan / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. - After winning two of three matches at the Roadrunner Classic last weekend, the Bulldogs enter Mountain West play this week hosting Nevada on Thursday and traveling to San Jose State on Saturday.

Fresno State vs. Nevada
Sept. 26, 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: Tied 27-27
Streak: FS W 2
Last: FS 3-0 (11/17/18)

Fresno State at San Jose State
Sept. 28, 2019 • 2:00 PM PT • Spartan Gym (1,000) • San Jose, Calif.
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats • Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History: SJSU leads 52-34
Streak: SJSU W1
Last: SJSU 3-1 (11/15/18)

Promotions
Thursday: National Family Day

Check out the Family Fun Zone along the North side of the Save Mart Center with Jenga, cornhole, a poster making station, and photo station!
In-Game Promotions: Honor Team of the Game and Ball Kids, Birthday Shoutout, Pride of the Valley t-shirt toss, and other family games!

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State opens its eighth season in the Mountain West on Thursday hosting Nevada.
The Bulldogs are 3-4 in Mountain West openers, including 1-1 at home.
Fresno State wrapped up non-conference play winning two of three matches at the Roadrunner Classic.
The 'Dogs are 5-2 at home against Nevada since 2012 while they are 3-3 at SJSU since 2013.
Nevada and San Jose State are Fresno State's two Mountain West opponents it only play once this season.

By The Numbers
9 - Kills by Lauren Sabbatini against both UC Davis & CSU Bakersfield at the Roadrunner Classic to set a new career high.
3 - Wins in Mountain West openers (2012, '13, '18) since joining the conference in 2012.
70 - Service aces for the 'Dogs while allowing just 42 opponent aces.

Scouting Nevada (10-2, 0-0 MW)

Nevada is off to a 10-2 start to the season and enters Thursday on a seven-match winning streak.
The Wolf Pack are 2-0 on the road, 3-0 at home and 5-2 at a neutral site.
Nevada, who was picked to finish last in the MW, has already surpassed its 2018 win total (8) and has matched its 2017 win total (10).
Junior outside hitter Kayl Afoa leads the MW in attacks per set (11.98 per set) while senior setter Dalyn Burns ranks first in the MW in assists (472).
The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings at home over the Wolf Pack.

Scouting San Jose State (5-6, 0-0 MW)

San Jose State is off to a 5-6 start to the season with a 1-1 record at home.
The Spartans, who open Mountain West play at San Diego State on Thursday, split a pair of matches in New York last weekend defeating LIU, 3-0 on Sept. 19 and fell in a five-set battle at Columbia on Sept. 20.
SJSU, picked to finish fifth in the MW preseason coaches poll, ranks second in the MW in aces per set (1.55) and are fourth in opposing hitting percentage (.192).
Senior middle blocker Thaliana Grajeda ranks third in the MW in hitting percentage (.404).
The 'Dogs have won two of their last three meetings in San Jose.

Roadrunner Classic Recap
• Fresno State won two of three matches at the Roadrunner Classic with sweeps of both San Francisco and CSU Bakersfield on Saturday.
• The 'Dogs fell 3-1 against UC Davis on Friday.
• The Bulldogs, who came into the weekend with a combined all-time record of 58-17 against UC Davis, San Francisco, and CSU Bakersfield, closed out non-conference play with two wins at three tournaments while winning one at the Lumberjack Classic.

All-Tournament Honors
• Junior Desiree Sukhov earned her third All-Tournament honor at the Roadrunner Classic as she combined for 41 kills and added 26 digs & 10 blocks in 10 sets.
• Junior Jocelyn Rodriguez represented the Bulldogs on the Lumberjack Classic All-Tournament team as she paced the team defensively throughout the tournament.
• The previous week, Madelyn Halteman, Reagan Leonard, and Sukhov were named to the Fresno State Invitational All-Tournament team.
• Halteman and Sukhov earned all-tournament selections at the season-opening GBD Invite.

First Things First
• Fresno State won the first set in six of its first 12 matches of the year.
• The Bulldogs are 5-1 this year when winning the first set but 2-4 when losing it.

Des Delivers
• In her first season with the Bulldogs junior Desiree Sukhov leads the team with 4.30 kills and 4.86 points per set while ranking second with 2.65 digs per set.
• Sukhov's 4.30 kills per set leads the MW and ranks 33rd in NCAA Div. I. She has led the team in kills in 11 of 12 matches this year.
• In the 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.

Sabbatini breaks out
• After playing in only four sets prior to last weekend at the Roadrunner Classic, redshirt freshman outside hitter Lauren Sabbatini tallied 26 kills in nine sets going for nine kills against UC Davis and CSU Bakersfield and added eight kills vs. San Francisco.

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 42 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.

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 Sept. 5.
• Halteman ranks 5th in program history in career assists and her current total of 3,324 assists is just 24 shy of fourth place (Traci Sliester - 3,348) and 151 shy of third place (Robyn Keune - 3,474).
• 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 10.26 assists per set.

Aces Advantage
• Fresno State ranks first in the MW with 1.63 service aces per set while having more aces than its opponent in eight of 12 matches with a 70-42 edge in aces for the year.
• Jocelyn Rodriguez leads the team with 13 aces while Madelyn Halteman has 12 and Reagan Leonard and Desiree Sukhov each have 11 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.

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 14.51.
• Reagan Leonard leads the way with 4.19 digs per set to rank second in the MW.
• Closing in on 1,000 career digs, Leonard is eight shy of the century mark and sits only 25 shy of moving into the top 10 in program history in digs.

Netting Neutral Wins
• Fresno State finished non-conference play 4-2 in neutral site matches this year after splitting a pair of matches at the Roadrunner Classic
• The 'Dogs have a 14-8 advantage in set wins and are outhitting their opponents .203-.186 in neutral matches compared to being outhit .182-.157 in their six other matches.
• The squad has a 31-19 edge in service aces in neutral matches while averaging 1.6 kills more per set than its opponent.

Up next
The Bulldogs return home to host two MW opponents next week hosting New Mexico (5-7) on Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. for Breast Cancer Awareness Night and welcome UNLV (4-7) to the Save Mart Center on Oct. 5 at 1 p.m.for Junior Bulldog Kids Club Day.

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

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