It is not the start to the 2014 season that the Fresno State volleyball team wants.
And with the Nevada Wolf Pack (3-9, 0-2 Mountain West) and San Jose State Spartans (3-12, 0-2 MW) coming into town, Bulldogs head coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell wants to work on improvement.
The Bulldogs are 0-2 in conference play after losing at the UNLV Rebels and San Diego State Aztecs. Overall, they are 5-11, their recent victory coming over the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds.
“[The team’s performance was] not up to par,” Netherby-Sewell said. “We had an injury coming into the weekend, and then we’re trying to figure out who needs to go where. We just don’t have a lot of depth this year.
“It’s another thing we have to deal with. We’re learning all the lessons this year.”
Things for the Bulldogs have not always been negative. Senior outside hitter Zana Bowens led the team in kills (3.57 per set), digs (3.71 per set) and aces (0.14 per set). Those numbers got her in the top 10 of the Mountain West in those categories.
Freshman middle locker Lauren Torres led the Bulldogs in blocks in three of their last five games: against Cal State Bakersfield (five), San Diego State (four) and Long Beach State (one). In her first eight starts, she has ranked second on the team in blocks (0.82 per set) and earned her first career ace against the Aztecs.
“If we lived in a perfect world, we’d be able to redshirt [Torres] and teach her everything she needs to know,” Netherby-Sewell said. “She will be an unbelievable star one day.
“She loves to block, and that’s half the battle. But we’re making a lot of big changes due to our depth issues, so she’s going to be in a new position and have to figure that out too.”
All time, the Bulldogs are 23-21 against the Wolf Pack dating back to 1971. Fresno State is currently on a six-game winning streak including five sweeps in the last two years. Under Netherby-Sewell, the ‘Dogs are 7-6 against Nevada.
San Jose State (3-12, 0-2) owns a winning record against Fresno State. The Spartans are 46-31 dating back to 1973. However, Fresno State has won eight straight matches and is 8-2 under Netherby-Sewell.
“San Jose is struggling a bit, since it’s all new,” Netherby-Sewell said. “I think it is having a lot of issues with compatibility and trying to figure out what it wants to be. Nevada has played better than us so far against other opponents, but I think it is going to be a pretty evenly matched team. Whoever serves and passes better is going to win that one.”
The Wolf Pack will visit the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. on Thursday, and the Spartans will play at the Save Mart Center at 4 p.m. Saturday.
