After getting swept by the Mountain West Conference-leading Colorado State Rams, the Fresno State volleyball team performed a sweep of its own against the Wyoming Cowgirls on Saturday on the road.
“It’s always tough to play here,” said Fresno State coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell. “They have rowdy fans and they were all over us, especially behind our service line. So it’s really a good win to come off a tough match at Colorado State.
“To come up 7,500 feet and take care of business in three against a good team, that’s a good day for us.”
Fresno State benefitted from improved hitting and posted a .300 percentage in the game. Seniors Korrin Wild (15), Marissa Brand (14) and Holly Franks (12) each had double-digit kills in the game, and Franks led with a .455 hitting percentage.
“We had a great practice [Friday] and we knew we needed to get our offense back on track,” Wild said. “We knew Wyoming was a decent blocking team, so we knew we had to work around them, and we did that very well.”
The Bulldogs dominated Set 1 by jumping to a 7-1 lead. Three of those points came from senior right side hitter Holly Franks. After Wyoming outscored Fresno State 6-4, the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run and prevented the Cowgirls from reaching double-digits until the end of the set, when a service error made it 22-10. A Wild block ended the frame 25-12.
In Set 2, Wyoming tied for the first time in the game at 9-9 and led 11-10. The Cowgirls kept the lead, but the Bulldogs began to rally from three points down (15-12) to tie the frame at 16-16. After, it was a back-and-forth match that ended with Fresno State pulling away and outscoring the Cowgirls 4-0 for the 25-21 victory.
The Bulldogs began the final set with a 10-4 lead, but the Cowgirls used the blocking game to their advantage and outscored Fresno State 7-1 to tie the frame 11-11. The Bulldogs pulled away and led 19-16, but Wyoming stayed close and rallied to come within one point of tying it at 23-22. A couple of kills by Franks ended the set and the match at 25-23 and gave the Bulldogs the win.
The Bulldogs’ three-set victory was attributed to their ability to adjust, keep up with Wyoming’s change of pace and tune out noise during the game.
“We over-prepared for [Colorado State],” Netherby-Sewell said. “The hitters started making choices that were not based on what they were seeing at the moment, they were basing it off the scouting report and what they were seeing in their heads.
“Those are things we have to learn and move on.”
The Bulldogs now have two more road games: at Nevada on Thursday, and at San Jose State on Friday.