After a weekend that saw the Fresno State women’s volleyball win two games in a row, the Bulldogs faced the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) Wolfpack for the first Mountain West conference matchup of the season.
Despite the Wolfpack keeping the sets close, the Bulldogs defeated UNR in sets of 25-21, 25-20, 25-20 on Thursday night at the Save Mart Center.
The matchup began with both teams battling for every point, with the Bulldogs scoring outputs answered by the Wolfpack and vice versa. It wouldn’t be until halfway through the set that the bulldogs gained a three point lead to pull ahead of Nevada.
The Bulldogs continued with a three point lead throughout much of the set until a challenge went in favor of the Wolfpack giving them the momentum they needed to come back and tie the Bulldogs 21-21.
As Nevada tried to take the lead from the ‘Dogs, the Bulldogs kept their composure and regain the lead, taking the first set with a 4-point unanswered run and a score of 25-21.
Much like the first set the Bulldogs and the Wolfpack going toe-to-toe at the beginning of the set, however the Wolfpack took a five point lead towards the middle of the set.
The Bulldogs cut the Wolfpack’s lead and eventually managed to tie up the set at 12 points each. With momentum on their side the Bulldogs took the lead from Nevada, however the Wolfpack hung on to within a point of the ‘Dogs.
Fresno State took advantage of mistakes made by the Wolfpack and extended their lead by four points, which was enough for them to win the set 25-20, taking a two set lead on the Wolfpack in the match.
In the third set the Wolfpack came out making great plays and out playing the ‘Dogs, however the Bulldogs kept to within a point of the Wolfpack.
Nevada’s lead diminished in the middle of the set, because of outstanding offensive plays and great defending that didn’t allowed the Wolfpack to score any points in the last minutes of the set.
The Bulldogs defeated the Wolfpack 25-20 in the set, winning the match and sweeping the Wolfpack 3-0. This win gives the Bulldog the first conference win of the season adding to their outstanding home record of 3-1 and overall record of 8-5.
For the Bulldogs outside hitter Lauren Sabbatini had 13 kills and 2 blocks, outside hitter Desiree Sukhov had 10 kills, 1 ace and 3 blocks and middle blocker McKenzie Kramer had 6 kills and 5 blocks.
After the match head coach Jonathan Winder said that the team is trying to get better as the season goes on, that the mentality of the team is to get better in areas that allows them to win.
“We served really well and I think we played defense really hard. We out-dug them by quite a bit so that was a good sign that we were playing hard,” Winder said. “Overall everyone was really focused and even with the new lineup, everyone was playing for each other and as a unit.”