Against a Sunbirds team that has dominated, controlled and claimed to their own the city of Fresno’s cross town rivalry, the Fresno State volleyball team pulled off what had eluded them the past eight years.
And in exciting fashion, no less.
Fresno State, before a home crowd that was equally decked out in Sunbird orange as it was in Bulldog red, won against Fresno Pacific in a five-set thriller. The Bulldogs won the match 25-19, 26-28, 25-27, 25-20, 15-11.
“I’m really happy for my local kids,” coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell said. “They did such an awesome job coming through for us and being tough and just playing their game. I’m happy for them because that’s a big win. The Sunbirds are always a good team. They’re coached well so we knew it would be exciting.”
Fresno State took an unwavering command in the first set. Sophomore middle blocker Maci Murdock blasted the ball on the Sunbirds’ side of the net for the Bulldogs’ fourth point. Murdock and senior setter Barbara Alcantara blocked a Fresno Pacific attack to spearhead a 13-4 scoring run early in the set.
The Sunbirds, on one occasion within five points of tying the set, eventually lost the set 25-19.
In a competitive second set, the Bulldogs again would control the pace of the game early on. Murdock and outside hitter Korrin Wild’s back-to-back kills””along with a Fresno Pacific net violation””propelled Fresno State to another early lead.
The Bulldogs would lead the set up until the Sunbirds rallied back and tied the set at 24. After two more tied scores late in the second, Fresno Pacific won the set 28-26.
The second and third sets featured a combined five score ties””all of which preceded a set point.
In both sets, Fresno Pacific came from behind to win in narrow fashion.
“I wasn’t surprised because they’re used to winning,” Netherby-Sewell said. “They don’t go away. We can’t go into cruise control when we’re ahead.”
In set four, Fresno State retaliated Fresno Pacific’s late comeback heroics with heroics of its own from sophomore libero Christina Lee. Lee dug balls that seemed centimeters away from touching the ground. She finished with a team-leading 25 digs.
Junior middle blocker Lauren Albertson blocked a Sunbirds attack to extend Fresno State’s lead 22-19 in a 25-20 set win that forced a final fifth set to decide the match. Albertson finished with 13 kills and six block assists.
“She was unstoppable,” Netherby-Sewell said. “We were telling Barbara every single ball just get her to it as much as we can. She wanted it. She was tough and ready to fire. We hope to see that every night from her.”
In the final deciding set, Wild scored a kill for the Bulldogs on the 11th point.
Leading 14-11 on a set point, Alcantara tossed the ball in the air in Wild’s direction.
Wild lobbed the ball softly past the other side of the net, where it landed on the ground untouched. Wild led the team with 19 kills.
“They had the upper hand at times so it was awesome to battle back,” Wild said. “It came down to serving and passing and I think we served tough and we passed when we needed to get our offense going.”
The annual exhibition match between Fresno State and Fresno Pacific (a game that has no influence on Fresno State’s overall record) has been scheduled in the regular season nine years running.
The win comes in between Mountain West Conference play, where the Bulldogs are 1-1. The Bulldogs continue Mountain West play on Thursday when they host New Mexico (14-2, 2-0 MWC).
“We need experience in our home court. And it felt like a home court tonight. We want that atmosphere on Thursday because Thursday is the one that counts,” Netherby-Sewell said.
Tuesday’s win was the first time the Bulldogs played at home since the Sept. Sept. 7-8 Fresno State Classic.
New Mexico is currently tied for first in Mountain West standings.
“We wanted to get momentum for Thursday night,” Wild said. “That was really just a momentum boost to get to Thursday night and get to conference play and take care of business.”