'Dogs fight tough on opening day

Friday, August 26

Charleston, SC

9 A.M. PT

Fresno State

0-1,0-0Mountain West

College of Charleston

1-0,0-0CAA

Fresno St.

Col. of Charleston

Photo by: CARY EDMONDSON- FRESNO STATE BRAND STRATEGY AND MARKETING

'Dogs fight tough on opening day

8/26/2022 4:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Travis Blanshan / Assistant Director of Strategic Communications

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Fresno State volleyball team got the 2022 campaign underway on Friday at the College of Charleston Classic dropping a pair of hard-fought battles at TD Arena.

The day got started with a tough five-set loss to the host Cougars, 25-23, 25-22, 13-25, 20-25, 8-15 and the 'Dogs continued to fight later in the day falling to Big Ten foe Rutgers in four sets (18-25, 20-25, 25-22, 23-25).

How It Happened vs. College of Charleston
The Bulldogs took the opening set, 25-23 jumping out to a 13-8 lead after a kill by Addison Haluska forced a Cougar timeout. Coming out of the break, the Cougars went on a 9-1 run to take back a 17-14 advantage. An attack error halted the run and block assists from Lauren Sabbatini and Grace Doyle put the 'Dogs back in front, 19-18. Kills by Doyle and Ella Rud closed out the set to help the 'Dogs go up one set to none.

The 'Dogs continued their blazing start in the second set going up 17-15 after a kill by Haluska and a service ace by Rud. A 5-1 run by the Cougars put the College of Charleston up by a pair, 20-18, but four straight points from the 'Dogs pushed the visitors back up two. Two more points from the Cougars tied the set at 22, but the Bulldogs stood tough responding with three straight kills, including the final two from Rud for a 2-0 set lead.

After dropping the third and fourth sets, the match came down to a deciding fifth set. After a kill by Haluska got the 'Dogs within one at 4-3, the Cougars reeled off five straight points to take a 9-3 lead. The 'Dogs kept it within six after a kill by Olivia Keller, but were unable to get any closer to drop a heartbreaker in five sets.

How It Happened vs. Rutgers
After an attack error by the Scarlet Knights tied the opening set at four apiece, Rutgers was able to take the opening set, 25-18 with the 'Dogs only able to get within two at 14-12 after a kill by Haluska.

The second set saw the 'Dogs jump out to a 10-5 lead after a kill by Doyle, but the Scarlet Knights countered with a 5-0 run to knot the set at 10 apiece. After ties at 11, 12, 13 and 14, Rutgers began to separate with a 6-1 run. A kill by Haluska brought the Bulldogs back within four and after a Scarlet Knight setting error cut the deficit to 21-19, four of the final five points of the set went to Rutgers for a 25-20 win.

The 'Dogs found their footing in the third set racing out to a 16-12 lead after a kill by Rud. Four straight points by Rutgers tied the set at 16 with the Bulldogs answering back with three points for a 19-16 lead after an ace by Rud. The Scarlet Knights got within one at 20-19, but four straight Bulldog points gave them a commanding five-point lead as an attack error sealed the set win.

The fourth set saw the Bulldogs continue to assert themselves jumping out to a 16-8 lead after a kill by Haluska. A kill by Preslee Lillard extended the 'Dogs lead to 18-9, but an 11-3 run by Rutgers only kept the Bulldogs up by one at 21-20. A kill by Doyle kept Fresno State in front, 23-22, but that would be the final offense of the evening as Rutgers reeled off the final three points of the set to complete the comeback win.

Individual Notes

Rud set a new single match high for kills with 21 against the College of Charleston surpassing her previous high of 16 set at San Jose State in 2021.
Hannah Waters notched 52 assists against the College of Charleston which were the most by a Bulldog since Amilya Thompson recorded 53 at Wyoming on March 12, 2021.
Sabbatini notched a double-double against the Cougars with 11 kills and 12 digs while Sydney Gazzaniga recorded a career high 20 digs in the contest.
Doyle set new single match highs for kills (17) and service aces (4) against Rutgers. Her 17 kills bested her previous high of 14 set against Wyoming in the spring of 2021 and she had reached three aces in 12 matches.
Waters kept up her strong start to the season with a double-double against the Scarlet Knights tallying 27 assists and added 12 digs.
Waters, Haluska and Keller all made their Fresno State debuts.

Team Notes

It was the first time the 'Dogs have gone to five sets in their season opener since 2018 when they topped Valparaiso at the EIU Panther Invitational.
Fresno State falls to 4-2 all-time against opponents from the CAA taking on its fourth foe from the conference joining Hofstra (1-0), Delaware (1-0) & William & Mary (2-1).
It was only the second season-opening loss for the 'Dogs in the last seven seasons.
The Bulldogs move to 1-7 against current Big Ten opponents with Rutgers being the fifth team from the conference the 'Dogs have played joining Ohio State (0-1), Minnesota (1-3), Wisconsin (0-1) & Illinois (0-1).
It is the first 0-2 start to a season for Fresno State since 2014.

Up next
The Bulldogs wrap up the College of Charleston Classic on Saturday morning taking on The Citadel at 7 a.m. PT.

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