Boise State Begins Two Weeks of Road Trips at San Diego State and Fresno State

Thursday, October 24

San Diego, Calif.

7:00 p.m. (MT)

Boise State

San Diego State

Photo by: Fabiana Huffaker

Boise State Begins Two Weeks of Road Trips at San Diego State and Fresno State

10/23/2019 5:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

WEEK NINE

Match 20: Boise State at San Diego State | San Diego, Calif. (Peterson Gym) | Oct. 24 | 7 p.m. (Mountain)

Match 21: Boise State at Fresno State | Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center) | Oct. 26 | 12:30 p.m. (Mountain)

Boise State Notes | Season Stats | Roster | Twitter | Facebook

THIS WEEK

● WHAT'S HAPPENING: Boise State (12-7, 4-4 MW) begins the first of two weeks on the road in Mountain West play when they travel to San Diego State and Fresno State.
● THURSDAY: Boise State travels to San Diego State (9-10, 2-6 MW) first for a 7 p.m. (Mountain) first serve on Thursday. This is the first encounter of two this season between the Broncos and Aztecs. The two teams split last season with the road team winning both.
● SATURDAY: The Broncos will wrap up the week on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (MT) when they take on the Fresno State Bulldogs (11-9, 4-4 MW). This will be the first meeting of two with the Bulldogs this season. Boise State has won 10 straight meetings versus the Bulldogs.
● LIVE STREAM: The MW Network will carry most conference matches during the season ... links to the live stream can be found on the volleyball schedule page at BroncoSports.com.
● LIVE STATS: You can follow the live stats of each match this weekend by using the links on the volleyball schedule page at BroncoSports.com.

BOISE STATE STORYLINES

BOISE STATE'S RECORD
● Boise State enters week nine of the season at 12-7 overall and 4-4 in MW play.
● Boise State's three nonconference losses came against teams ranked in the top-21 at the time of the match: at No. 9 BYU, vs. No. 16 Marquette in Provo, Utah, and at No. 21 Missouri.
● Boise State is 0-4 against top-25 teams this season adding a loss to Colorado State to the three nonconference ranked opponents.
●The Broncos are 4-3 at home.

WALLEY LEADS THE BRONCOS
● After 19 matches, Janell Walley has led the Broncos to its early success hitting a team-best 37.4 percent ... she has hit 40 percent or better in eight matches to date and above 30 percent in 12 of 19.
● She has tallied a team-high 247 kills, 15 service aces, four block solos and 70 block assists for a team-high 301.5 points on the year.
● Walley is third in the MW and 49th nationally for hitting percentage (.37.4), ranks fourth in MW for kills per set (3.48), eighth in blocks per set (1.04) and third in points per set (4.24).
● She had recorded 14 matches on the year in double-figure kills.
● Walley tied her career-high for kills against Middle Tennessee (Sept. 6) with 19 ... then broke it with 23 in the victory over Austin Peay (Sept. 13).
● She has eight double-doubles on the year for a team-high 16 in her career.

DONAHUE ANCHORING THE BLUE WALL
● Last year, Jessica Donahue led the Broncos with 135 blocks to rank 14th in a season all-time at Boise State.
● In 2019 she leads once again with 105 entering the week to rank second in the MW and 11th nationally.
● In MW play she has a league-high 61 blocks and leads with 1.85 per set ... she has tallied at least six in seven of eight MW matches and has a high of 12 versus Nevada (Oct. 3)
● Her 12 blocks against Nevada (Oct. 3) was a career-high and tied the school record for blocks in a match ... it was the third match in her career with double-figure blocks.
● She is first in the MW and fifth in NCAA for blocks per set at 1.52.
● Donahue has 12 contests this season with five or more blocks

WISSINGER ON THE WALL
● Redshirt-freshman Alyssa Wissinger has been coming on strong in blocking the last couple weeks, including leading the team in blocks against Colorado State and Wyoming with 16.
● She recorded a career-high 10 blocks in the loss to 14th-ranked CSU (Oct. 17).
● Wissinger has 65 blocks on the year to ranked third on the team.
● She is the second Bronco this year with 10 or more blocks in a match, Donahue had 12 against Nevada.

OHLINGER SHINING IN DEBUT SEASON
● True freshman Lauren Ohlinger has the second-most kills on the team with 188 for a 2.65 per set average ... she is fourth on the team in digs with 174 (2.45 dps), fifth in blocks with 37 and second in points with 228.5.
● She had a career-high 19 kills in Boise State's win over Idaho State (Sept. 19), then broke that mark with 22 in the victory at New Mexico (Oct. 3).
● Ohlinger enters the week as one of four Broncos who has recorded a double-double on the season with four.

BOSS AT SETTER
● On the year she has 725 assists and 191 digs (2.69 dps) ... she is second in the MW for assists per set at 10.21.
● She has nine matches this season with 40-plus assists.
● The sophomore setter had an active streak of five double-doubles (assists/digs) Aug. 31 thru Sept. 13, all Broncos wins ... she now has a team-high 10 on the year.

DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING
● The Broncos are ranked sixth nationally and second in the Mountain West for blocks per set at 2.93 and are third in MW in digs per set at 14.73.
● They rank third in the MW for opponents' hitting percentage at .187.
● The Broncos have held nine of their last 13 opponents below 20 percent hitting going 9-4 in the that stretch.
● On the year they are 9-3 when holding opponents below 20 percent hitting, 10-4 when leading in blocks and 10-1 with more digs than the opposition.

SIMON HITS MILESTONE 1,000TH ASSIST
● Senior setter Cassedi Simon entered the season looking for 13 assists to reach 1,000 in her career.
● She reached that goal in the Wyoming match with five that put her at 1,001.
● Simon is the 17th Bronco to reach the milestone in program history.
● She entered the year ranked 17th all-time in career assists, she is now 16th.

HEAD COACH NOTES

HEAD COACH SHAWN GARUS
● Coach Garus entered his 11th season at Boise State and 19th overall just 14 wins shy of 300 career wins at 286 ... he is now two short at 298.
● Garus is 298-258 overall in his 19th year as a collegiate head coach.
● He is currently 190-139 at Boise State in his 11th season.
● At Boise State, Garus is a two-time MW Coach of the Year (2015, 2016), as well as the 2016 AVCA Region Coach of the Year.
● Garus ranks second in total wins in program history, out of 10 coaches all-time.
● He has recorded eight winning seasons overall, including an active streak of five straight.
● His Boise State teams have recorded three seasons (2010, 2015, 2016) with 20-plus wins.

MATCH PREVIEWS

SAN DIEGO STATE PREVIEW
● Boise State travels to San Diego State Thursday where they will have first serve at 7 p.m. (MT).
● The Aztecs enter the week at 9-10 overall and 2-6 in MW play ... they have loss four straight and are coming off a pair of road defeats at Fresno State (3-0) and Air Force (3-2).
● SDSU has been hitting 24 percent (2nd MW) and holding its opponents to 24 percent (11th MW).
● The Aztecs were picked to placed eighth out of 11 teams in the MW coaches poll.
● Boise State is 8-8 all-time versus SDSU and 8-7 in MW matches.

FRESNO STATE PREVIEW
● The Broncos will close the weekend on the road at Fresno State at 12:30 p.m. (MT) in the Save Mart Center.
● The Bulldogs enter the week at 11-9 overall and 4-4 MW ... they are coming off of a split last week defeating San Diego State (3-0) in Fresno, then lost at Air Force (3-1).
● Fresno State is hitting 18.4 percent (8th MW) on the year and holding opponents to 19.1 percent (5th MW).
● The Broncos are 18-20 all-time against Fresno State and 11-3 in MW play ... Boise State has won 10 straight.
● The Bulldogs were predicted to place sixth in the 2019 MW race out of 11 teams.