Boise State Rallies to Knock Off Fresno State in Four

Saturday, October 6

Boise, Idaho

10 a.m.

Boise State

11-6, 3-3MW

Fresno State

12-6, 4-1MW

Fresno State

Boise State

Photo by: Boise State Photo Services

Boise State Rallies to Knock Off Fresno State in Four

10/6/2018 3:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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Janell Walley led the Broncos with a career-high 19 kills while hitting a team-high 36 percent.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho - Janell Walley hit 36 percent for a career-high 19 kills as Boise State rallied from one set down to hand Fresno State its first loss in conference play 17-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-19 in Boise. After dropping the first set by eight points, Boise State regrouped to sweep the next three by and average of five points to upset the league-leading Bulldogs in four sets. The win improved the Broncos to 11-6 overall and 3-3 in conference, while Fresno State drops to 11-6 and 4-1 in league.

"I thought this was one of our more consistent matches of the year," said Boise State head coach Shawn Garus. "It was a little bit of a slow start but I thought we were resilient in matches two, three and four. We played from ahead, played with a lot of confidence, I'm really proud of the bounce-back effort."

"I think it's a good win, there are a lot of good teams in our league and Fresno State is one of the hot teams early in the season," Garus said. "I think you'll see great parity this year and everyone is going to struggle to win on the road. For us to win against a good team at home means a lot and we'll need it heading into two tough matches on the road next week."

It is the third match of the year that Walley led the Broncos in kills (tied twice before) while adding seven digs and four blocks. Senior Sabryn Roberts was held to single digit kills for the first time this season with nine, to go with a team-high (tied) 12 digs to go with three blocks. Morgan Hughes chipped in with another steady performance on four kills with a team-high 12 digs and five blocks.

Freshman Jessica Donahue returned to the lineup against Fresno State after missing the last two weeks, she finished with a career-tying 13 kills while hitting 35.7 percent. Donahue also recorded a team-high seven blocks giving her eight matches with five or more blocks.

Three other freshmen also made an impact on the match as Danielle Boss dished out a team-high 41 assists and five service aces, to go with three kills, five digs and two blocks. Jessie Brigham added 11 digs, while Carly Moreno had four kills, five digs and two blocks.

Boise State hit 18.7 percent for 53 kills on 51 assists, seven service aces, 53 digs and 12 blocks. Fresno State countered by hitting 15.3 percent for 48 kills on 48 assists with three service aces, 61 digs and 10 blocks.

After hitting less than 15 percent in the first three sets, the Broncos hammered it at 29.7 percent in the fourth to put the match away. Fresno State hit 51.9 percent in set one, but was held to 12.1 percent or lower in the final three periods, including a -2.7 percent in the third.

Boise State will hit the road for the other side of the Rockies next week as the Broncos play at preseason favorite Colorado State Thursday night, followed by a match at Wyoming on Saturday.