Broncos Get Road Sweep at Fresno State to Hand Garus 300th Career Win

Saturday, October 26

Fresno, Calif.

12:30 p.m. (MT)

Boise State

14-7, 6-4MW

Fresno State

12-10, 5-5MW

Boise State

Fresno State

Broncos Get Road Sweep at Fresno State to Hand Garus 300th Career Win

10/26/2019 4:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Final Box (pdf)

Boise State’s 11th-straight victory over the Bulldogs hands coach Shawn Garus his 300th career win.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

FRESNO, Calif. - Jessica Donahue, Alyssa Wissinger and Danielle Boss all recorded eight or more blocks as Boise State's blue wall proved too much for Fresno State as the Broncos swept the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon on the road 27-25, 25-23, 25-20. Donahue led the trio with her second match of the season in double-digit blocks with a team-high 10, while Wissinger and Boss each had eight, a career-high for Boss.

IT'S A SWEEP as Boise State takes set three 25-20 and the match 3-0 at Fresno State! That is 11 straight wins over the Bulldogs by BSU!

Broncos improve to 14-7 and 6-4 in MW!#BleedBlue @BroncoSports @BoiseState @MW_OlySports pic.twitter.com/qbIpB0bBon
— Boise State VB (@BroncoSportsVB) October 26, 2019

The win was the 11th-straight for Boise State over Fresno State as the Broncos improved to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in MW play, while Fresno State dropped to 12-10 and 5-5 in league. In addition, it was a milestone win for head coach Shawn Garus as he earned his 300th career victory as a collegiate head coach, 192 of those coming at Boise State.

"I'm really happy with the way the team performed today," said Garus. "I thought we served the ball effectively today which created a lot of blocking opportunities and our block looked really good! It wasn't just Jessica Donahue but a lot of other players like Carly Moreno, Dani Boss, Alyssa Wissinger and Lauren Ohlinger who were solid, lots of players made good moves at the net which slowed down Fresno's (State) attack. Overall it's a good win on the road, it's good to sweep two matches away from home this week. I'm excited to get back to Boise for practice before we hit the road for two more next week."

Boise State started the match slow looking at 6-0 deficit to open the contest. However, the Broncos managed to collect themselves and surged back late on a 6-0 run to take their first lead at 20-19 on a Moreno kill. Before the set was over, the Blue and Orange was forced to fight off two Fresno State set points at 24-23 and 25-24 to take the match in extra points 27-25. The decisive 3-0 run for the Broncos was led by two straight blocks — the first by Shae Duffy and Donahue, the second by Donahue and Boss — followed by a kill from Ohlinger to clinch it.

After scoring the first point of the second period, the Broncos then trailed most of the way early. Boise State tied the score at 13-13, the 13th point started a 5-0 run to put the Broncos up 17-13. The Blue and Orange never trailed again, however, the Bulldogs did close to within one a couple of times, the last at 24-23, before a Fresno State service error gave the set to the visitors.

The third set was all Boise State who opened on a 2-0 run and never trailed. The Broncos led by as many as eight at 17-9 and 18-10 and cruised to the set win hitting a match-high 20.6 percent in the period.

Ohlinger led Boise State with her seventh double-double of the season on 10 kills and 16 digs, both team highs. She added two assists, two service aces and two blocks to finish with 13.0 points.

Donahue hit 29.4 percent for seven kills and recorded a team-best 10 blocks, it was her second of the season and fourth career match in double-figure blocks.

Wissinger was steady at the net once again as she recorded her fourth-consecutive match with six or more blocks finishing with eight to go with four kills.

Boss dished out a team-high 27 assists in the win to go with a career-high eight blocks, one kill, one service ace and eight digs.

Boise State finished the day hitting 17.3 percent while holding Fresno State to 11.2 percent. A big part of holding the Bulldogs to 11 percent was the Broncos dominance at the net tallying 18 blocks as a team, the Bulldogs had nine, five of which came in the first set.

The Blue and Orange will start the second half of conference play on the road next week when the Broncos travel to San Jose State and Nevada, respectively.

OTHER NOTABLES

The win was the second straight for the Broncos.
Ohlinger's team-high 10 kills marked the fourth time this season she has led the team in that category ... her team-high 16 digs was the third time she has led in digs.
Donahue entered the week ranked 11th nationally for total blocks, she had 10 today and five Thursday to give her 120 on the year which ranks 24th in school history for a season ... she was ranked first in the MW and fifth nationally for blocks per set at 1.52 entering the week, she averaged 2.0 this week to put her at 1.56 ... she now has 14 matches this year with five or more blocks, eight of those have come in league play including both double-figure contests.
Wissinger has come on strong in blocks during league play with six or more blocks in five of the nine matches she has played in conference ... she is now second on the team with 80 total and averages 1.25 per set.
Boss' career-high eight blocks beats her previous best of five she had against UC Irvine earlier this year.
Freshman Allison Casillas recorded a team-second-best 13 digs against the Bulldogs today.
Boise State is now 12-3 this season when winning the first set and 9-1 when taking the first two.
The Broncos are now 10-3 when holding a team to below 20 percent hitting.
Boise State is now 19-20 all-time versus Fresno State and 12-3 in Mountain West contests.