‘Dogs host Fresno State Invitational Thursday and Friday

Thursday, September 5

Fresno, CA

4:30 PM PT

Fresno State

CSU Bakersfield

‘Dogs host Fresno State Invitational Thursday and Friday

9/4/2019 11:35:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Tournament Central Fresno State Notes (PDF)

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Fresno State vs. CSU Bakersfield
Sept. 5, 2019 • 4:30 PM PT • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats - Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak • Last : FS Leads 20-5 • FS W 2 • FS 3-2 (9/12/17)
Promotions: Pride of the Valley Night

Fresno State vs. CSUN
Sept. 6, 2019 • 10:00 AM PT • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats - Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak • Last : CSUN Leads 16-9 • CSUN W 3 • CSUN 3-2 (9/9/17)
Promotions: Digs, Donuts, and 'Dogs

Fresno State vs. Santa Clara
Sept. 6, 2019 • 7:00 PM PT • Save Mart Center (3,333) • Fresno, Calif.
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live: Live Stats - Live Updates on Twitter (@FresnoStateVB)
Series History • Streak • Last : FS Leads 23-10 • SCU W 6 • SCU 3-2 (8/31/13)
Promotions: Abilities Night

Full tournament schedule, coverage, and ticket info at Tournament Central

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State went 2-1 at the GBD Invitational last week with wins over Ohio and Indiana State
Madelyn Halteman and Desiree Sukhov were named to the GBD Invitational All-Tournament team
The Bulldogs have a 9-3 record in home tournament matches dating back to the 2015 season
Fresno State begins the week one win shy of 700 victories with a 699-701-12 all-time record
CSU Bakersfield and CSUN are both 0-3 while Santa Clara is 4-0 after a tournament sweep at Indiana

By The Numbers
13 - Assists needed for Madelyn Halteman to become the 5th in program history with 3,000
4 - Consecutive wins in Fresno State's first home match of the season dating back to 2015
18 - Service aces for the 'Dogs while allowing just six opponent aces in three matches last week

Scouting CSU Bakersfield (0-3)

CSU Bakersfield went 0-3 in a tournament at Sacramento State last week but they won a set in all three matches with two losses, to Sacramento State and Canisius, coming in five sets.
The Roadrunners were picked to finish sixth in the WAC preseason poll after going 14-16 overall and 7-19 in league play last year. The team won the WAC title two years ago in 2017.
In three matches last week CSUB hit just .120 as a team and was outblocked 44.5-24.5. Fresno State beat the 'Runners twice in 2017 and has won nine of the last 10 meetings since 2010.

Scouting CSUN (0-3)

CSUN was 0-3 in a season-opening tournament at Weber State but won the first set vs. Portland and pushed UNLV, picked 3rd in the preseason MW poll, to five sets in a close loss.
The Matadors were 8-20 last year, their fourth straight losing season, and were picked seventh in the Big West preseason poll. The team returned four starters and 10 total letter winners.
Seyvion Waggoner led CSUN with 4.33 kills per set last week as the team hit .221 and had a 27.0-23.0 edge in blocks. The 'Dogs have lost five of their last six matches vs. CSUN since 2006.

Scouting Santa Clara (4-0)

Santa Clara started its 2019 season going 4-0 in a tournament at Indiana, ending the week with a 3-0 sweep of the host Hooisers, after going 6-24 overall and 1-17 in the WCC last season.
Freshman Julia Sangiacomo was named WCC Player of the Week after hitting .341 with 4.15 kills and 1.92 blocks per set. The Broncos hit .325 as a team with a 40.0-22.0 edge in blocking.
Santa Clara is led by Erin Lindsey, who won an NCAA title as an assistant last year at Stanford. The 'Dogs are 23-10 all-time vs. SCU but have lost the last six meetings with the last win in 1996.

You're Invited

The Bulldogs host the Fresno State Invitational for the second consecutive year after not having a home tournament during the 2017 season.
In last year's tournament the 'Dogs defeated American and San Francisco while taking a loss to Saint Mary's, who won the event with a 3-0 record.
Fresno State has a 9-3 record in home tournament matches dating back to the 2015 season.

Two All-Tournament

Fresno State went 2-1 in the season-opening GBD Invite, defeating Ohio and Indiana State before a loss to tournament host Green Bay. Senior Madelyn Halteman and junior Desiree Sukhov were named to the All-Tournament team
Halteman averaged 10.40 assists and 2.10 digs per set over three matches while she also led the team with four service aces and had seven blocks.
In her first official matches as a Bulldog, Sukhov averaged 4.20 kills and 2.00 digs per set. She had 19 kills and 10 digs for a double-double in the opener vs. Ohio and hit a solid .242 for the week.

Starting Strong

With the win over Ohio last Friday 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.
Last year the 'Dogs began the season 7-1, their best record through eight matches since 2002.

Home Cooking

Dating back to the 2016 season the Bulldogs have won 18 of their last 25 home matches. The 'Dogs have won their first home match of the year in each of the last four seasons.
Fresno State finished 9-4 in the Save Mart Center last year and the squad has had a winning home record for three straight years and in six of the last seven seasons.

Setting Star

Madelyn Halteman, the longest tenured Bulldog and the lone fifth-year senior on the 2019 roster, ranks fifth in program history with 2,987 career assists as she looks to become just the fifth player in program history to record 3,000 career assists.
Halteman was an All-MW selection last year ranking second in the MW with 9.88 assists per set and leading the 2018 team to a .230 hitting percentage, third best in a season in program history. She also led the team with 38 aces and tallied 11 double-doubles.

Aces Aplenty

Fresno State tallied 18 aces in three matches at the GBD Invite, averaging 1.80 aces per set, while allowing just six total opponent aces.
The 'Dogs had at least five aces in every match with a season-high eight aces in just three sets against Indiana State with three aces in both the first and third sets.
The Bulldogs have had more aces than their opponent in all three matches this year after having the same or more aces in 15 matches last year.

Big Debuts

Nine of Fresno State's 10 newcomers for the 2019 season saw their first action as Bulldogs last week with four newcomers (middle blockers Grace Doyle and McKenzie Kramer and outside hitters Desiree Sukhov and Amilya Thompson) starting all three matches.
Sukhov and Thompson led the team in kills while Doyle and Kramer led in blocks. Another newcomer, Savanah Smith, was third on the team in both kills and blocks last week.
The only new Bulldog that didn't see court time last week, freshman Amaria Kelley, was unable to play due to injury.

Digs all Around

Five different Bulldogs players averaged 2.00 digs per set or more last week.
Reagan Leonard led the way with 3.90 digs per set while Jocelyn Rodriguez, Madelyn Halteman, Desiree Sukhov, and Amilya Thompson all tallied two or more digs per set.

Super Support

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).
In 2018 the 'Dogs had a higher average home attendance than Pac-12 schools Cal and Washington State.

Underestimated Again?

Fresno State was picked to finish sixth in the 2019 preseason MW Coaches' Poll despite finishing second in the league last year.
In the 2018 preseason poll the 'Dogs were picked seventh and ended up second. If they move up five spots again from the preseason poll to the actual final standings they would win their first MW title in 2019.

She Can Dig It

Junior Reagan Leonard was a 2018 All-MW Honorable Mention selection and was named to the 2019 Preseason All-MW team, becoming just the second Bulldog ever named to the Preseason All-MW team since Fresno State joined the conference in 2012.
Leonard broke the single-season program record with 605 digs last year, topping the previous high mark of 573 digs set by current Fresno State assistant coach Maggie Eppright in 2015.
In her first season as the team's starting Libero Leonard led the MW in total digs and was second in digs per set while also breaking the single-match program digs record.

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.

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