Bulldogs sweep CSUN, top Santa Clara in 5-set thriller

Friday, September 6

Fresno, CA

10:00 AM PT

Fresno State

3-2

CSUN

0-5

CSUN

Fresno State

Bulldogs sweep CSUN, top Santa Clara in 5-set thriller

9/6/2019 11:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Tournament Central Video Highlights (vs. Santa Clara)Video Highlights (vs. CSUN)

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State opened Friday with a 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-19) sweep of CSUN and closed it with a thrilling 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 19-17) win over Santa Clara, in which the Bulldogs fought off three match points, on the final day of the Fresno State Invitational.

Fresno State (4-2) handed Santa Clara (6-1) its first loss of the season as the 'Dogs and Broncos tied for the tournament title with matching 2-1 records. The 'Dogs win over CSUN sent the Matadors to 0-5 but they came back to beat CSU Bakersfield in their final match of the tournament, with those teams both ending the tournament with 1-2 records.

Bulldog junior outside hitter Desiree Sukhov established two new career highs in kills on Friday, tallying 23 against CSUN and then connecting for 30 kills against Santa Clara, which tied for the fourth most kills in a match in program history and were the most since Korrin Wild had 31 kills in a match in 2012. Sukhov also had two double-doubles on Friday with 13 digs in the opener and 15 digs in the night cap.

Madelyn Halteman tallied a season-high 55 assists against Santa Clara, just four shy of her career high, and had 12 digs in the finale. Fresno State had five different players record double-digit digs against the Broncos with Reagan Leonard logging a season-high 29 digs while also contributing seven assists. Fresno State had a season-high 11 service aces against Santa Clara with Sukhov leading the way with three.

Sukhov has nearly unstoppable against CSUN, hitting .512 with 23 kills and just two attack errors while adding 13 digs and two blocks. Savanah Smith added 12 kills on a .385 hitting percentage as the 'Dogs outhit CSUN .345-.216. Halteman had 47 assists and five digs and Leonard had a match-high 19 digs in the first Bulldog win of the day.

Halteman, Leonard, and Sukhov were named to the All-Tournament team. Halteman and Sukhov earned All-Tournament honors for the second consecutive week after also being selected at the GBD Invite last week.

How it Happened – vs. CSUN
Sukhov set the tone early with eight kills and no errors on just 11 swings while also adding a team-high six digs in the first set. There were 11 ties and four lead changes in the set before the 'Dogs pulled ahead 20-15. CSUN got back within a 21-19 deficit but the 'Dogs scored four of the next five points, ending the set on consecutive kills from Sukhov (watch)

Sukhov also had eight kills in the second set. CSUN took an early 7-4 lead in set two and led 13-12 before a 6-0 run by the Bulldogs. Trailing 23-20, CSUN pulled even with three straight points but the 'Dogs reached set point up 24-23 after a Matador attack error. CSUN stayed alive on that set point and again trailing 25-24 to pull even and force extra points. Grace Doyle had a kill to give the 'Dogs a third set point and Sukhov ended the set as she did the first with a kill (watch)

Fresno State led for most of the third set as the home team had 15 kills and just one attack error in the period with a .389 hitting percentage. The 'Dogs led 10-3 early in the set and had a seven-point advantage again up 20-13. With the 'Dogs up 23-16 CSUN scored three straight points to get back within a four-point deficit but a kill from McKenzie Kramer and a CSUN attack error gave the 'Dogs a sweep (watch).

How it Happened – vs. Santa Clara
Santa Clara, which went 4-0 in a tournament at Indiana last week and won its first two Fresno State Invitational matches dropping only one total set, hit a match-best .353 in the opening set while holding the 'Dogs to their worst hitting percentage of the night (.103). The Broncos took an early 13-5 lead and led by at least four points for the rest of the period.

Fresno State bounced back in the second set hitting .297 with Smith tallying five kills on just eight swings. The Bulldogs had three aces in the set and led for most of it, using a 7-1 run to turn a 4-4 tie into an 11-5 lead. Santa Clara pulled back even at 14-14 but the home team answered with a 5-0 run to build some separation and closed out the set 25-17 on a Santa Clara attack error.

Sukhov was sensational in the third set with nine kills and just two attack errors. The set was level at 15-15 before a 5-1 run by the Bulldogs gave them a 20-16 lead. Santa Clara answered with three straight points to make it 20-19 but the 'Dogs would score five of the next six points with four kills from Sukhov and a service ace from redshirt freshman Julia Handy to end it and give Fresno State a 2-1 lead (watch).

Santa Clara led for most of the fourth set to force a deciding fifth. After falling behind 14-9 the Bulldogs got back to within an 18-17 deficit but could not pull even. With a 22-20 lead the visitors got a block and a kill to reach set point and won it 25-21 on a Bulldog attack error.

The Bulldogs had a sensational start to the fifth set, jumping out a 5-0 lead and, after Santa Clara earned a point after a coaches' challenge, the 'Dogs scored two more points to take a 7-1 lead in the race to 15. The Broncos would score the next four points and extend to a 13-6 run to reach a match point up 14-13 after winning another reversal on a challenge. Sukhov had a kill and an SCU attack error gave the 'Dogs a first match point up 15-14 but the Broncos answered. The 'Dogs had another match point at 16-15 they couldn't convert and Santa Clara reached another match point of its own up 17-16. From there Santa Clara committed an attack error, a ball handling error, and another attack error as the 'Dogs defense forced three SCU mistakes to end a thrilling win (watch).

Quotes

Head Coach Jonathan Winder
On the Santa Clara win…
"I thought we were really tough. We played really hard from start to finish. The best thing for us was that we learned what didn't work in the first set and we changed it. In previous matches this season we've waited until the next day and it was awesome that the players themselves figured out how to win. They were really resilient and hung in there with tough calls and all the drama; they maintained great poise and executed really well down the stretch when it was really nerve-racking for everybody."

On the tournament…
"It started off a little rough but it's so early in the season. All we want to do is just keep getting better and it was huge that we got better from match one to two to three, and within each match we kept getting better as well. I like the direction our team is going."

Notes

Fresno State ended its home tournament with a five-set win for the second consecutive season. In the 2018 Fresno State Invitational the 'Dogs outlasted San Francisco 15-13 in the fifth set to close the tournament.
The Bulldogs defeated Santa Clara for the first time since 1996 as the Broncos had won the last six meetings between the teams.
The 'Dogs trailed in aces for the first time this season in the opener on Friday as CSUN had seven aces to three for the Bulldogs. Fresno State had an 11-5 edge in aces against Santa Clara.
Sukhov totaled 53 kills on 114 attacks over the two matches on Friday, averaging 6.62 kills per set and hitting .360 overall. No other Bulldog had more than 22 total kills or 83 attacks on the day.
Leonard averaged 6.00 digs per set on Friday with 48 total digs.
Smith and Rebecca Rendahl both made their first starts as Bulldogs in the match vs. CSUN.
In the other Fresno State Invitational matches on Friday, Santa Clara beat CSU Bakersfield, 3-0, and CSUN beat CSU Bakersfield, 3-0.

Fresno State Invitational All-Tournament Team
FS – Madelyn Halteman, Reagan Leonard, Desiree Sukhov
SCU – Allison Kantor, Liliana Light, Taylor Odom
CSUN – Makayla Bradford, Seyvion Waggoner
CSUB - Brooke Boiseau, Emily Hansen

What's Next
Fresno State is back on the road next week to take part in the Lumberjack Classic in Flagstaff, Ariz. The 'Dogs will face LSU and South Dakota State next Friday before taking on tournament host Northern Arizona next Saturday, Sept. 14.

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