Fresno State volleyball fall to Hawaii 3-1

The Bulldogs lose the final two games of the match in front of the second largest crowd at the Save Mart Center to the sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine

By Darrell Copeland

The Fresno State volleyball team played host to sixth-ranked Hawaii in the Save Mart Center Thursday night.

The Bulldogs (8-6, 1-2) failed to pull off a victory, but managed to win one game in a 17-30, 30-26, 27-30, and 23-30 against the Rainbow Wahine (11-0, 1-0).

Fresno State played right with Hawaii in three of the four games, feeding off the vocal and energetic crowd. The Bulldogs hit a total of .220 for the match to Hawaii’s .324 hitting percentage.

Fresno State head coach Lindy Vivas was happy with the crowd and the energy it brought to her team.
“For a [Thursday] night, I thought this was excellent,” Vivas said.

Seniors Kristen Fenton and Tiffany Bishop led the Bulldogs attack; garnering 15 and 14 kills respectively.

Bishop continued her effective play, attempting to single handedly fix the middle attack and defense woes that the Bulldogs have had so far this season.

“That’s an area we’ve been working really hard on this week,” Vivas said.

Fresno State committed 21 errors to the Rainbow Wahine’s 22, competing with one of the nation’s most efficient teams from start to finish.

“I’m pleased with how we competed,” Vivas said. “I think we could build on this.”

In game two, the Bulldogs led by as much as seven points, hitting .310 and committing only two errors. In the other three games however, Hawaii’s outside attack was just two much for the Bulldogs to overcome. Hawaii freshman Tara Hittle, sophomore Kanoe Kamana’o and junior Victoria Prince ran the hard-hitting attack that had the Bulldogs laboring.

Kamana’o, the 2003 national freshman of the year, had match high 63 assists and 16 digs. Hittle added a match-high 22 kills, while Prince had 16.

The announced crowd of 2,458 did give the Bulldogs a boost throughout, giving further reason to the players to have more than one match a year at the Save Mart Center.

“The players as a whole feel we should be here all the time,” Vivas said.

The Bulldog football team has become nationally recognized through expansion and facilities, and Vivas thinks her volleyball team could be in the same boat.

“We need stadium expansion and we need the volleyball team in the Save Mart Center,” Vivas said.

The Bulldogs will now host San Jose State this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. before traveling to Northridge on Tuesday.