Dec. 17, 2007

FRESNO, Calif. - It was a season of ups and downs for the 2007 Fresno State women's volleyball team. In its third year under head coach Ruben Nieves, the Bulldogs finished with a 5-26 overall record and a 3-13 mark in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Bulldogs were picked to finish eighth in the pre-season poll but finished a step ahead as they clinched the seventh seed in the WAC Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M. In the regular season, the Bulldogs defeated Boise State at Bronco Gym in a thrilling come-from-behind victory for Fresno State. The Bulldogs also defeated Louisiana Tech twice. Despite playing one of their best matches of the season against No. 12 New Mexico State in the opening round of the conference tournament, the Aggies defeated Fresno State, 3-0. The Bulldogs year didn't end there as they concluded the season at the University of the Pacific Bankers Classic over Thanksgiving weekend. There, the Bulldogs fell to the host Tigers and to St. Mary's in the consolation match to then end the season.

For the fourth-consecutive season, a Fresno State volleyball player was named to the Western Athletic Conference All-Freshman team as outside hitter Tairyn Rasmussen was selected by the coaches and announced as one of six freshmen on the team at the WAC banquet in Las Cruces, N.M. Senior outside hitter Alisha McKee was named to the second team All-Conference, the first such honor for the Bulldogs in two years. McKee was consistently ranked in the top 10 in kills per game all season in the WAC. Rasmussen ranked in the top five amongst freshmen in the conference with kills in conference matches.

Fresno State said goodbye to three senior's in 2007. Outside hitter's McKee (Goodland, Kans.) and Angela Wiggins (Monument, Colo.), along with setter Tiffany Hess (Murrieta, Calif.), played their final match in Bulldog uniforms against Idaho in the Save Mart Center on November 8, 2007. McKee leaves Fresno State ranked 10th all-time with 2,551 total attempts in her career. Hess leaves with 1,201 assists, to rank ninth in school history and her 6.76 assists per game ranks her tenth. Wiggins ends her career with more than 700 kills.

The Bulldogs welcomed seven freshmen to the court in 2007 who all contributed well. Those who saw them play know that the future is bright for Fresno State Volleyball. Along with Rasmussen being named to the All-WAC Freshman Team, two other freshmen Bulldogs inked their names into the record books. Kasey Van Grouw had 440 assists in 2007 which ranks her sixth all-time in school history as a freshman. Lauren Berger's 68 block assists and 74 total blocks both rank her third on the Fresno State freshman lists. Kelly Mason, who finished out the year as libero, played in 107 games, the most of any other Bulldog in 2007. Meghan Moss contributed well, playing in every game as well before a wrist injury at Utah State (Oct. 27), sidelined her for the remainder of the season. Kelly Weymouth and Sarah Oskam also saw valuable playing time.

"The young players on this Bulldog team, received some very important experience," said assistant coach Lee Nelson. "They often faced teams with more upperclassmen on the floor then Fresno State had on its roster and I think this opportunity is going to pay some big dividends down the road."

Each week during the school year, the Fresno State Athletic Department selects one student-athlete of the week based on the previous week's performance. The student-athlete is then highlighted on the front page of www.gobulldogs.com. In 2007, two Bulldog volleyball players earned this honor. Lauren Berger was the first Bulldog in any sport to earn the honor in 2007. With a .310 hitting percentage, 19 kills and 10 block assists in opening weekend Berger was named the Toyota/gobulldogs.com Student-Athlete of the week on Aug. 27. Sophomore Lexi Watson had a career-high 13 kills for the Bulldogs as they played the best match of the season against New Mexico State in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M. (Nov. 15). Her previous career- high was eight kills in which she tallied twice earlier in the season. Watson also had a .214 hitting percentage, the second-highest of her career against the No. 13 team in the country.

Several Fresno State rally scoring records were broken by the Bulldogs in 2007. Individually, Lisa Gera set a new school record for service aces in a match with six, in her hometown of San Jose (Oct. 4). As a team, the Bulldogs broke the school rally record for most attempts in a match (244) and digs (107) at

Boise State (Sept. 20). The Bulldogs 13 service aces in that match was also a five-game record. There is no doubt that the blocking by the Bulldogs was one of the keys to the season. Sophomore Kelly Leonardo led the way with 99 total blocks. The Bulldogs set a new school record for a three-game match with 15 total blocks against WAC powerhouse Hawai'i in Fresno on November 2, 2007.

"To have the kind of blocking success we had this year against Hawai'i and Jamie Houston, the WAC Player of the year, shows that this team defensively has potential to do some very good things," added Nelson.

Sept. 7-8, 2007, Fresno State traveled to Manhattan, Kans. to play in the Varney's Kansas State Invitational. In an exciting opening match for Fresno State, it defeated Arkansas 3-2. The Bulldogs were down 2-0 after losing games of 30-14 and 30-13. They rallied back to win the final three games and the match. It was the first time since 2001 that Fresno State had lost the first two games and came back to win in five. It was also the biggest point deficit overcome since 30-point scoring six years ago. The Lady Razorbacks were mentioned in the top 25 poll at the time as a team receiving votes.

"The match against Arkansas was one of the best comebacks I have ever been a part of," Nelson added. "The Lady Razorbacks clearly had our number in games one and two, but our players didn't give up, they persevered and in the end, showed some tremendous."

"Join the State - Fresno State!" - For more information on Fresno State volleyball in the off-season, continue to long on to www.gobulldogs.com.