A pink-clad Bulldog army defended home court in its first Mountain West Conference game of the season.
The Fresno State women’s volleyball team defeated the Utah State Aggies 3-1 to improve to a winning record of 7-6.
The Bulldogs were wearing pink uniforms and headbands for Breast Cancer Awareness Night. At halftime, breast cancer survivors were commemorated on the court.
“It’s awesome,” said Fresno State coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell. “It humbles us and it brings us back down to earth realizing that what we do is a lot easier than what they have to do.
“Their battles are great and we appreciate their effort to come out here tonight.”
Senior right side hitter Holly Franks led the team with 20 kills, 52 total attacks and 24 points. Freshman libero Maggie Eppright led Fresno State’s defense with 28 digs and junior setter Christina Lee had 50 assists.
“I thought we dug pretty well and made some good efforts,” Netherby-Sewell said. “Our blocking got a lot better, so little things are getting better. We just have to work our offense out.”
“I like to think of myself as another outside [hitter],” Franks said. “I know with Korrin [Wild] and I, it’s definitely hard for teams to block both of us. We’re both viable options every time.”
The first set went the distance, as both teams went back and forth and exchanged leads toward the end of the match. The Aggies rallied from a 3-point deficit to tie the frame 25-25. The Aggies kept up with the Bulldogs until a Utah State error won the set for Fresno State.
The Aggies rebounded in the second set. Outside hitters Tumua Etimani and Rachel Orr led the team with four kills. They won that match 25-19 and sent the teams into halftime tied 1-1.
During halftime, the Bulldogs regrouped themselves and regained their focus.
“[Netherby-Sewell] said that we were playing selfish, we were playing as individuals,” Franks said. “When you have six individuals on the court, it’s not cohesive or smooth.”
After the half, the Bulldogs maintained discipline. They had a .146 attack percentage in the third set, compared to the .025 Aggie attack percentage. They won that frame 26-24.
The fourth set nearly went in the Aggies’ favor, but the Bulldogs were able to hold them off to avoid sending the game to a fifth set and won 26-24.
“I was back there thinking ‘OK, please don’t miss your serve. Just get it in and serve it to our targets.’ I can hear the girls on the bench in my ear telling me what to do. It’s so nice to have the confidence of your team there as well as within yourself.”
“[Discipline] was better. We didn’t have as many net violations, we’ve been working on that a lot,” Netherby-Sewell said.
The Bulldogs will stay at home to face the Boise State Broncos (5-6) on Saturday.