Fresno State senior outside hitter Zana Bowens (18) goes in for the kill during the Bulldogs’ Oct. 10 match with San Diego State at Save Mart Center. (Khone Saysamongdy/The Collegian)

Volleyball: ‘Dogs sweep Falcons behind Bowens’ all-around performance

By Tomas Kassahun

Oct 18, 2015

Fresno State senior outside hitter Zana Bowens (18) goes in for the kill during the Bulldogs’ Oct. 10 match with San Diego State at Save Mart Center. (Khone Saysamongdy/The Collegian)

Outside hitter Zana Bowens recorded 13 kills to lead the Fresno State volleyball team in a 3-0 win Saturday against Air Force.

Bowens also added 13 digs in the win, making it her ninth double-double of the season.

“Air Force is a tough place to play,” Fresno State head coach Netherby-Sewell said. “They are always well coached and a hard team to compete against. I am really proud that we had such a great match, three and out.”

The Bulldogs went to Colorado with a starting lineup of Lauren Torres, Carly Scarbrough, Zana Bowens, Aleisha Coates, Gertu Vider, setter Brooke Legaux and libero Maggie Eppright.

In the first set, the ‘Dogs made a six-point comeback for a 25-23 win.

Bowens and Coates posted four kills each in Set 1, accounting for eight of Fresno State’s 15 total.

Defensively, Torres helped the team in the opening set with a pair of blocks, while three other Bulldogs logged one apiece in the opening set.

“I thought we played really well as a team today,” Netherby-Sewell said. “They were focused on doing their jobs even if we weren’t getting the kills we wanted or blocks we were looking for.”

Bowens contributed five additional kills in the second set, which included seven ties.

“[Bowens] played awesome defensively, passing, serving, attacking, she did it all for us today,” Netherby-Sewell said.

But the ‘Dogs outlasted the Falcons in the second set, winning 25-18 on set point.

With a 25-16 win in the third set, the ‘Dogs completed the sweep, making it their first sweep against the Falcons since 2012.

Jelena Jovanovic and Legaux combined for 33 assists on Saturday, while Coates and Vider each added two aces.

“We also got our middles involved which is one thing we’ve been working on,” Netherby-Sewell said. “[Vider] did a good job for us and [Torres] started to make an impact, which is going to be key as we move forward into the second half of the season.

With six weeks left in the regular season, the ‘Dogs hold an 11-10 overall record and a 3-4 conference record.

The ‘Dogs return home Tuesday to face UNLV at 7 p.m.

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