Broncos Down Fresno State 3-1, Secure Berth to Next Week's MW Championship

Saturday, November 18

Fresno, Calif.

2 p.m. MT

Boise State

14-14,10-8Mountain

Fresno State

16-13,10-8Mountain

Boise St.

Fresno St.

Team celebration during Idaho State match on August 25.

Broncos Down Fresno State 3-1, Secure Berth to Next Week's MW Championship

11/18/2023 5:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

FRESNO, Calif. - Boise State volleyball closed the regular season with a big 3-1 victory at Fresno State Saturday afternoon to secure a berth into next week's Mountain West Championship at Las Vegas.

The Blue and Orange used a balanced offense to get past the Bulldogs, with five Broncos recording seven or more kills and four reaching double-digit points. Boise State outhit Fresno State .324 to .192 in securing the victory.

Boise State opened the first set by racing to a 4-1 lead and never looked back. The Broncos -- who hit .577 percent in the frame -- stretched their advantage out to eight points before taking the set 25-19.

Tied at 7-7 in the second set, Boise State used a 7-0 run to take control. The Blue and Orange continued with its hot hitting at .455 in the frame and stretched the advantage out to 11 twice, the last coming with the final score, 25-14.

The third set was tight, with eight ties and three lead changes. Boise State was up 21-18 when the Bulldogs rallied to tie the score at 22, then went on to win the frame in extra points 26-24 to force a fourth set.

The fourth was a battle with 10 ties and five lead changes. Leading 17-14, Boise State watched Fresno State rally with a 5-0 run to take a 19-17 advantage. Down 21-18, the Broncos came back to tie it at 21-21. Then tied at 23, Boise State closed it out on a kill by Noelani Helm and by block assists by Helm and Annie Kaminski.

Quotables

"I am really proud of how the team battled today and how they were resilient down the stretch," said head coach Shawn Garus. "We came out with a lot of energy and played well in the first two sets. Credit Fresno State, they are a good team and they showed it in the third and fourth sets when they rallied back. Our team did a great job keeping its focus and coming away with the win."
"We really didn't talk much about the tournament (Mountain West Championship) with the team. Our plan all year was to take on one match at a time. The team did a good job of doing that this week, focusing on Nevada Thursday and Fresno State today, winning both matches. Now we can look forward to the tournament."

Top Broncos

Paige Bartsch recorded her 13th match of the season with 20-plus kills, finishing with 21 while hitting .353; she added one service ace, 13 digs, and two blocks for 23 points.
Kaminski hit a team-best .571 for nine kills to go with a team-high and career-tying eight blocks for 14 points.
Helm earned a double-double on a team-high 42 assists with 10 digs, to go with nine kills, two blocks and 10 points.
Anabel Kotzakov had eight kills, three blocks, and team and career highs for service aces with four and digs with 16, to finish with 14 points.
Bella McGirr added 13 digs.

Notables

Boise State finished the regular season at 14-14 overall and 10-8 in conference play.
Bartsch's 21 kills gave her 517 for the season, moving her to second all-time at Boise State for a single season...it also gave her 1,088 career kills, climbing to 11th all-time.
Bartch's 23 points moved her to 598 on the year and into first place in program history...she has 1,260 points in her career, 19 short of sixth place all-time.
Bartsch, the MW leader for service aces this season, tallied one today to move her into a tie for second for aces in a single season during the rally-scoring era (2011-present) with 49.
Helm now has a team-high 13 doubles-doubles on the year, and Bartsch has nine.
Boise State swept the season series with the Bulldogs to take an all-time 23-22 advantage.

What's Next

Boise State clinched a spot in next week's MW Championship at Las Vegas. With two matches remaining Saturday night, the Broncos will be either the number five or six seed, depending on those results.