FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State Bulldogs took the 3-1 match victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack Tuesday evening at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. The Pack move to 6-16 overall, and 2-9 in Mountain West play.
 
Highlighting the evening, Sia Liilii reached 500 career kills on the season after earning her first kill of the match, totaling 13 overall. Freshman Francesca King made her first collegiate career appearance in the first and third sets recording five assists and two digs. Lexi Applebach saw 13 kills on the evening, her most since Sept. 14 against Montana State. Freshman Koen Makaula earned career highs in kills and blocks with four each respectively. Bella Snyder had five blocks while Gabby McLaughlin earned 12.5 points with eight kills, three service aces, and three assist blocks.
 
This is the second meeting between the Bulldogs and the Pack this season, the last being a month ago at Virginia Street Gym where Fresno State took Nevada 3-2 in a five-set series. Overall, the Bulldogs hold a 28-26 all-time record against the Wolf Pack. Most recently, Fresno State went 2-0 on the weekend with big wins against the Colorado State Rams in Fort Collins, 3-2 and saw a 3-0 sweep against the Wyoming Cowgirls at home in Save Mart Center in Fresno.
 
The Wolf Pack opened the match winning five straight points, including four coming off Bulldog attack errors. Fresno State responded with back-to-back kills to open their campaign. A Fresno State service error and Gabby McLaughlin aces pushed the Pack's lead to five, 7-2. The Bulldogs scored four straight points to bring the score to 7-6. Nevada responded with a three-point run of their own with kills from Clarke and Liilii. The run was followed by the teams trading points to bring the score to 12-9. The Bulldogs combined Grace Doyle kills and Ella Rud aces to piece together an eight-point run, taking their first lead of the set 17-12. The Pack and Bulldogs continued to swap points, this time trading four-straight service errors before Liilii and Clarke added to their kill totals. Consecutive Wolf Pack blocks from Snyder, Makaula, and McLaughlin attempted to spark the Pack's comeback, brining the score to 23-21. A Francesca King service error game Fresno State match point before Legault ended the set on a kill. Liilii and Clarke led the Pack in the set with four kills each.
 
The Pack and Bulldogs traded points early in the second, tying things up at 5-5 a piece. Nevada's Emily Parker put up a service ace, moving the Pack up by one before Fresno State went on a three-point scoring run to take the lead 8-6. Continuing that momentum, the Bulldogs saw another 3-0 scoring run to go up by four points sitting at 13-9. The Pack fired back with their own four-point scoring run to tie the game up once again at 13-13. Through the middle of the set, the teams went back-and-forth trading points and the lead before the Bulldogs took set two identically to the first, winning the match 25-22 and going up 2-0 on the match. Liilii recorded four more kills in the set.
 
The Pack jumped up to a 6-3 lead over the Bulldogs to start the first set, but Fresno State went on a 4-1 scoring run to tie things up at 6-6. Nevada answered back with a 4-0 scoring run of their own to jump back up 10-6. King recorded her first assist of the evening helping with a Snyder kill to extend the Pack's lead. The Bulldogs tried to answer back to come within two before Nevada earned a five-point lead with kills from Clarke, Makaula, and Liilii. The Pack continued to dominate reaching set point on a 5-0 scoring run before the Bulldogs answered back with three in a row, but Nevada ultimately took the third set of the match 25-18 on an error by Fresno State's Olivia Keller to head to the fourth.
 
Taking control early in the fourth set, the Bulldogs saw a 5-0 scoring run going up by four points to force a Nevada timeout. The points were split evenly with two kills from Fresno State's Ella Rud and two errors from the Pack. Fresno State extended their lead by nine points in the middle of the set, sitting at 16-7 over Nevada. Six different Bulldog players contributed with kills to the extension of the Fresno State lead. Nevada climbed back up to come within six after three Bulldog errors, but Fresno State reached the 20-point landmark being up by nine for the second time in the set. Nevada fought back, but the Bulldogs would win the set and match on an attack error by the Pack, taking the match 3-1.
 
Up Next:
The Pack will return to Virginia Street Gym Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. taking on the San Jose State Spartans. Saturday's match is Pup Club Day where all Pup Club members will receive free admission. Tickets start at $7 and can be purchased at www.mynevadatickets.com