SAN FRANCISCO - After dodging three set points to win the first set 28-26, Fresno State dominated the next two sets to finish a 3-0 (28-26, 25-17, 25-15) sweep over San Francisco in the first of two matches in San Francisco on Saturday. The 'Dogs will conclude the weekend facing Pepperdine at 4:30.
Fresno State (2-0) beat a San Francisco (1-1) team that swept fellow Mountain West member Nevada, 3-0, in its season opener on Friday night. The Bulldogs held the Dons to .108 hitting for the match while hitting .264 with seven aces and five blocks.
After tallying a career-high 25 kills on Friday, junior Taylor Slover led the Bulldogs again on Saturday with 18 kills and had seven digs and two blocks. Lauren Torres had six kills in just seven swings in the match and Brielle Hefner also had seven kills hitting .353. Madelyn Halteman tallied 33 assists and eight digs, Haile Watson had five kills and four blocks, and Jacqueline Hutcheson had a match-high 15 digs with five assists.
How it Happened
San Francisco held a small lead for most of the first set and had a first set point at 24-23. The Bulldogs dodged that and two more set points, and a kill from Slover gave Fresno State its first set point at 27-26. A USF attack error gave the set win to the Bulldogs, who hit .273 in the first set with 19 kills while USF hit .186.
The Bulldogs trailed 8-4 early in the second set but used a 6-0 run to take a 10-8 lead. The visitors continued to role from there, holding the Dons to .073 hitting in the set. Fresno State ended the second set with a 21-9 spurt to win it easily, 25-17.
Fresno State continued to dominate in the third set jumping to a quick 9-3 lead. The Bulldogs led by at least three points for the remainder of the set, taking a commanding 17-9 lead and forcing the Dons to call two timeouts. USF hit .037 in the set with just seven kills while the Bulldogs hit .321 and had four aces and two blocks to close out the match with a 25-15 set win.
Notables
The Bulldogs have started the season 2-0 for the second consecutive year, having opened up 2016 winning each of their first five matches...The Bulldogs have held both opponents below .240 hitting so far this year...After ranking 15th in NCAA Div. I with 1.67 aces per set last season the 'Dogs have 18 aces through seven sets this year, averaging 2.57 aces per set...Redshirt freshman Montez Uigaese made her Bulldog debut in the match.
What's Next
The Bulldogs conclude the weekend tournament facing Pepperdine at 4:30 pm in San Francisco. The Waves are 1-1 with a 3-1 win over Utah Valley and a 3-2 loss at San Jose State on Friday.
8/26/2017 | Women's Volleyball | Box Score
