_______________________________________Volleyball

Cross town rivalry puts bragging rights on line

By Darrell Copeland III
The Collegian

It’s not very often that David is the favorite over Goliath.

But when Fresno State makes the drive over to Fresno Pacific tonight, that will once again be the case. Fresno Pacific defeated the Bulldogs in their first ever meeting last year, sweeping the match in three games 30-21, 30-28 and 30-8.

The Sunbirds have been an NAIA powerhouse for years, and have already started at a 13-0 clip this season. On the contrary, Fresno State has started just 2-11 this season, although many of its losses have come against nationally ranked opponents.

But that doesn’t put the Sunbirds at any lower of a level in the eyes of the Bulldogs than say, No. 15 Hawaii.

“They’re a strong powerhouse, they could probably beat Hawaii,” Fresno State junior outside hitter Angela Wiggins said.

That would put the Bulldogs at a decided disadvantage against Fresno Pacific, but a win for Fresno State would make it that much sweeter.

“Because Fresno Pacific is so darn good and so accomplished, it’s a feather in the hat for any team that beats them,” Fresno State coach Ruben Nieves said.

For either team, decoration of the hat comes in second to those all-important bragging rights that the winner will be able to carry for the next year. An argument can be made, however, that the namesake alone of the Bulldogs would give them more to lose than the Sunbirds, which is why some question the reasoning behind the scheduling of such a powerful cross-town rival.

“If you’re afraid to lose, yes, but we’re not afraid to lose,” Nieves said. “It’s great competition and people want to see it.”

That’s why the Bulldogs will be carrying a never-die attitude into the match with the Sunbirds, underdog or not.

“We’re gonna have a killer instinct,” Nieves said. “We’ve been underdogs in a lot of matches and at 2-11, we’re gonna be underdogs again.”

Comment on this story in the Sports forum >>