'Dog Bites

Bulldogs snag Top 25 ranking in USA Today coaches poll

Having yet to start the season against Weber State on Saturday at Bulldog Stadium, Fresno State has moved up two places in this week’s Top 25 USA Today coaches poll.

Boise State, the only other Western Athletic Conference school mentioned in preseason top 25 rankings, fell out of the coaches poll after landing a No. 19 spot last week.

In the USA Today coaches poll, the Bulldogs are 13 points behind No. 23 Notre Dame and 14 points ahead of No. 25 Auburn.

The Bulldogs remain in the No. 24 spot in the Associated Press poll.

Volleyball breaks even in San Francisco; Santa Clara tournament up next

The Bulldogs kicked off the regular season last weekend with four matches in two days at the USF Powerade/Asics Classic. The Bulldogs struggled in the opener against William and Mary, dropping a three-game decision to the Tribe, but won two straight matches against Long Island and North Carolina. The win over the Tar Heels was representative of what the Bulldogs intend to do this season, as the Bulldogs had 88 digs as a team, led by libero Cheryl Selenak. The team hit .215, led by freshman middle blocker Kasie Spencer's 21 kills. The 3-1 win was the first of the season for the Bulldogs, who left the tournament with a 2-2 record after a loss to San Francisco on Saturday. Team leaders from the tournament included Selenak, who had 69 digs during the tournament and played in every game as the libero. Spencer also saw extended time during the tournament and benefited from it, recording 44 kills and 18 total blocks. Setter Robyn Keune moved into fourth place among Fresno State setters in assists, and started the year with 101.

On Thursday, the Bulldogs will travel to the Santa Clara campus and compete in the Santa Clara Invitational where they will see three ranked western schools. Besides No. 25 Santa Clara University, Fresno State will also face No. 15 Arizona and No. 18 UC Santa Barbara.

Women’s Basketball holds try-outs

With the 2005-06 season a little over a month away, the Fresno State women's basketball team will hold an open-gym tryout session for individuals interested in joining the team as walk-ons.

The tryouts will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 1:30 p.m. in the South Gym.

Cross Country to compete in CSU Stanislaus Invitational

The Fresno State cross country team will compete at the CSU Stanislaus Invitational on Sat., Sept. 10, 9 a.m., in Modesto, Ca. Last fall, the Bulldogs finished fifth in the six-team field after winning three consecutive CSU Stanislaus Invitational crowns (2001-03).

In fact, the Bulldogs come into this weekend having captured the Stanislaus title five times in the past seven years and boasting the meet's top runner in four of them.