DePaul University
Fresno State
Volleyball Defeats Fresno State for Friday Sweep
9/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
FRESNO, Calif. - The DePaul volleyball team closed its Friday in the Bulldog Showdown with a win over host Fresno State Friday night, 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-19, 25-21). DePaul, moving to 3-2 on the year, handed Fresno State (5-1) its first loss of the year.
It was an all-around effort for DePaul to earn the victory with five student-athletes reaching eight or more kills in the match. Brittany Maxwell led the Blue Demons with 12 kills.
Colleen Smith recorded a season-high 40 assists. Jasmine King had a team-high four blocks to go along with her nine kills. Lexi Chanos finished with a match-high 10 digs.
Continuing the theme of early Friday leads from the first match, DePaul jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first set over Fresno State. DePaul built its lead up to nine at 16-7 when Smith set Myah Reed up for a kill. The Bulldogs fought back with seven straight points and cut the DePaul lead to one. The Blue Demons answered with three straight points and held off Fresno State long enough to earn the early match advantage, 25-19.
In the second set, the two sides went back-and-forth to a 9-9 tie before Fresno State won the next six points. The Blue Demons were able to keep the deficit to only six when Smith earned a kill to make the score 18-12. Fresno State began to pull away afterwards and won set point on a Brielle Hefner kill, 25-16.
Tight play between DePaul and Fresno State saw the two teams battle to an 11-11 tie in the third frame. The Blue Demons went on a 7-0 rally after the tie and kept the lead throughout the rest of the set. Fresno State brought the score within four, 23-19, after a service ace, but two clutch points from Caitlyn Coffey helped DePaul regain the match lead with a third set score of 25-19.
The fourth set found DePaul producing rallies of three or more points early and Fresno State answering. After DePaul went up 15-10, Fresno State called a timeout to try and halt the DePaul attack. The Bulldogs were within two of the Blue Demons throughout the frame, but DePaul answered to build the lead back up. Coffey set DePaul up for match point after she secured a kill and the Blue Demons claimed the match off a Fresno State attack error to win the set, 25-21, and the match.
The final match of the Bulldog Showdown for the Blue Demons is Saturday at 12:30 p.m. when they meet Portland State in a neutral match. Fans can visit the DePaul volleyball schedule page for links to live video and statistics feeds.
