Ryan Tubongbanua / The Collegian

National champ Fresno Pacific sweeps Bulldogs for fourth straight season

A record-setting crowd, stellar play from Tairyn Rasmussen and Brianna Clarke, and a late rally still weren’t enough for the Bulldogs to pull away a win from a more experienced Fresno Pacific volleyball squad Wednesday night.

The veteran-laden Sunbirds overcame deficits and prevented any hope of a Bulldog upset by sweeping the match by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-18, in front of over 3,000 in attendance at the Save Mart Center.

Outside hitter Rasmussen led the team with 11 kills, while Clarke finished the night with seven kills, giving her the team lead with 46 on the season.

The Bulldogs led by as many as three points with a 20-17 lead in game two, with Clarke helping ignite the Save Mart Center crowd with her aggressive play during the rally.

“I feed off of big crowds,” Clarke said. “I love the atmosphere. I just go hard all the time. My coaches and teammates give me the confidence I need.”

But, when the Bulldogs were leading 22-20, the Sunbirds silenced the Red Wave crowd by scoring five unanswered points to finish off the second game, then led throughout the third and final set to clinch the victory.

Fresno State sophomore Kasey Van Grouw and former Sunbird Allanah Munson led the way in assists, with Munson collecting 17 against her ex-teammates.

Ryan Tubongbanua / The Collegian

Clarke also was going against some former teammates. She played club volleyball with Fresno Pacific’s Lisa Shilling and Mariah Mandelbaum.

“You know what shots they have. You know what they’re going to do. It was a good experience for me,” Clarke said.

If there was one thing that the Bulldogs learned from the defending NAIA champions, it was having the experience of finishing games off.

“We need to work on finishing games,” Van Grouw said, who finished second on the team in assists with eight for the game. “We get to 20 or 21 points but then we fall apart. We need to finish those leads strongly and keep the leads we get.”

Coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell agreed with finishing off strong.

“We need improvement. It’s going to be a year-long process,” Netherby-Sewell said. “We’re dealing with a lot of scar tissue from years past. As long as I see progress everyday I’m happy, but now I better start seeing some plays and ability to finishing matches.”

For Clarke, getting the right technique down is what she feels is important for the team.

“We need to improve on the technical things,” said the freshman middle hitter.

Netherby-Sewell also saw experience being the ultimate advantage the Sunbirds had.

“Fresno Pacific has some really experienced players,” Netherby-Sewell said. “They have a world of experience that we haven’t touched. It’s really good to play against teams like that. We learned how to play better volleyball.”

And despite the fact that Fresno Pacific was one of the toughest opponents on Fresno State’s schedule, as well as their crosstown rival, Netherby-Sewell believes that conference play is more important.
“For us, what I care about is the WAC,” Netherby-Sewell said. “This for us was just preparation. To me, [Fresno Pacific/Fresno State] is not really a rivalry. But it was great to play in a packed house.”
The first-year Fresno State coach believes that even tougher challenges lie ahead for her squad.

“So far, St. Mary’s is one of the toughest we’ve played,” Netherby-Sewell said. “We’re going to face tougher Division I opponents this year.”