Bryan Cole / Collegian File Photo

The preseason workouts are nearly over and it’s only one day away from game time for the Fresno State volleyball team.

The Bulldogs will compete against three tough contenders in the two-day Fresno State Invitational Tournament at Save Mart Center this weekend.

Fresno State will host the tournament for the second time. CSU Bakersfield, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Fresno Pacific are all scheduled to compete.

True freshman outside hitter Cecilia Agraz, said she is excited for her first college game. Although she lacks experience handling opposing team’s offensive strategy, she is confident that the Bulldogs have an edge on the competition.

“We’re excited to compete against all the teams, but I don’t know who the toughest is since I’m still a freshman,” Agraz said. “But I think this tournament will show how hard we worked in fall camp and to finish first in the tournament will show our hard work paid off.”

That is the goal of the team this weekend – to finish first and have a head start in the competition for season records.

Sewell said since this is going to be the first game of the season, they will probably use the tournament not only as a stepping stone to the season, but also to see how their system will work against other players and how to tighten their game up in time for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) games.

“It’s interesting playing in preseason, you can’t really compare it to conference matchup since people are working through their systems, finding the line up,” Sewell said.

Sewell has high expectations for her team to step up their game and be more aggressive with the ball. She expects them to dominate from the very beginning and finish strong.

“We want our hitting efficiency to be above 21 percent. One of our goals is to serve tough and put the teams on their heels right away,” Sewell said. “We have specific goals for ourselves and we want to see if we can do them.”

Lacey Gera, senior outside hitter, said that she’s excited to face all the teams competing, but she is particularly looking forward to playing hometown rivals, the Pacific Sunbirds.

“I’m excited to see Pacific since everyone knows they’ve been good for the last few years and this is the year we’ve come far enough to really show them what we can do,” Gera said.

Sewell agrees saying Pacific is probably the toughest opponent they face this season because of their aggressive playing style.
“Pacific is the most difficult. They’re the most physical, they have a great conference and they have a long history of winning.”

With the competition being so steep, the Bulldogs must perform at a high level to defend their home court. Sewell expects that there will be fans from all over the state that will bring the competition to a higher level.

“It’s great to play in the Save Mart Center. It’s a wonderful facility and what we try to do this year with scheduling is get more local team so the Pacific match and the Bakersfield match are going draw a big crowd so the environment will be energetic and fun and I’m looking forward to that kind of energy on our first tournament,” Sewell said.