At the beginning of the season, the Fresno State softball team set a few major goals to accomplish before the end.

According to head coach Margie Wright, the Bulldogs met their first goal this weekend. After a slow, tough start to the 2009 season, the ̢۪Dogs captured their 10th regular season Western Athletic Conference title.

“We just simply decided to not look past our first goal, which was to win the WAC,â€Â Wright said. “I think we did a pretty good job of staying focused on that.â€Â

The Bulldogs were able to win the regular season crown by battling back in the second half of the season. To close out the year, Fresno State had to win 10 of the final 12 games to catch first place Nevada.

The Wolf Pack and ̢۪Dogs both finished with a 15-5 conference record, but Fresno State took the three-game series from Nevada. The tiebreaker and the title went Fresno State̢۪s way.

According to Wright, the season has had its difficulties, but the veteran coach is proud of her team̢۪s resiliency.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but they were not ups and downs because we were playing easy competition,â€Â Wright said.

Wright and the Bulldogs prided themselves this season on having one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the country. Early in the year, Fresno State played in the Cathedral City Classic, playing four Top 25 teams in five games.

“Part of the reason why you play the hard competition in the beginning, is to prepare for the end,â€Â Wright said.

The season is not yet over for the Bulldogs, as Fresno State hosts the 2009 WAC Tournament. Wright said that her team is happy to be at home, especially during the final week of the student-athletes̢۪ academic semester.

She said that even though the Bulldogs have the home-field advantage in the tournament, they still have to take advantage of the positives.

One advantage that the Bulldogs have is the knowledge of all their opponents.

“We know every opponent and we know that if we fell short against them before, we know why we did,â€Â Wright said. “We know what we need to change that.â€Â

The team has a few days to rest and prepare for the tournament. Being the No. 1 seed, the ̢۪Dogs have the first day of the tournament, Wednesday, off and will wait to play the winner of Boise State and Utah State on Thursday.

“We have a really young team and I think that everybody is really focused on what we need to do for the rest of the season now,â€Â Wright said.

And if her team can remain focused and accomplish its next goal, the Bulldogs will be making their annual trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Read The Collegian on Wednesday for a complete WAC Tournament preview.