History
Fresno State Men's Volleyball Club was organized in spring 1973 to play the Cal Poly Mustangs by Pete Conrad. With the persistence of Glenn Scott, Fresno State joined the NCCVL during the 1975-76 academic year. During the first year, home matches were held in the South Gym, including a SRO match against Stanford.
Spring 2004 Season
#1 Team in 2004
"On Thursday, June 17, 2004, Milwaukee Area Technical College forfeited their 2004 Men's Division I title . . . due to the use of ineligible players."
Saturday, April 10, Fresno State narrowly lost the National Championship to MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College) 2-0: 25-27, 17-25, in a match with an audience over 3000 (+one streaker). The championship match was the only match that the Bulldogs lost all tournament. Will Nelson and Larry Orender excelled throughout the tournament to make the First Team All-Tournament Team. Adam Parks solid performance yielded him on the Second Team. The Bulldogs finished the season 43-2 & recipient of one forfeit in the National Championship match.
Fresno State defeated UC San Diego 2-0: 25-22 & 25-17, in the semifinals. Highlights were Larry Orender hitting 9 for 9, with 1 block; Adam Parks and Will Nelson with 6 kills each. In the quarter-finals, UC Davis was defeated 2-0: 25-16 & 25-23. Highlights included 6 kills and 1 block from Larry Orender; Will Nelson with 5 kills, 1 block, 1 ace and 1 dig; Matt Mercer with 5 kills and 3 blocks; Adam Parks with 5 kills 0.5 blocks and 1 assist.
2004 NCCVL Champions
Fresno State Men's Volleyball NCCVL Champs
Saturday, March 27, Fresno State defeated UC Berkeley for the NCCVL Championship (3-0: 25-16, 25-20, 25-20). Match highlights include: Will Nelson with 12 kills (588%), 0.5 blocks, and 4 digs; Adam Parks with 11 kills (444%), 2 aces and 2 digs; Matt Mercer with 7 kills (700%), 2 blocks and 1 dig; Joe Sikkema with 6 kills (667%) 1.5 blocks and 4 digs, and Mike Delotto had 39 assists, 9 digs (season high) and 1 kill. Earlier in the day, Fresno State defeated UC Davis in the NCCLV SemiFinals (3-0: 27-25, 25-19). Match highlights include: Will Nelson with 12 kills (500%), 2.5 blocks, and 4 digs; Adam Parks with 8 kills , 2 blocks and 2 digs; and Joe Sikkema with 7 kills, 1 block and 4 digs; Mike Delotto had 32 assists and 5 digs.
Fresno State Men's Volleyball 32-2
Saturday, March 27, Fresno State defeated #2 Div III NCAA UC Santa Cruz 3-0: 25-19, 25-20, 25-21. Match highlights include: Will Nelson (OH) with 14 kills, 1.5 blocks, and 8 digs; Ian Michaels with 11 kills, 1 blocks, and 1 digs; Larry Orender with 9 kills, and 1 block; Matt Mercer (MH) with 3 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 dig; Joe Sikkema (OH) with 6 kills and 2 digs; and setter Mike Delotto had 38 assists and a season high 7 digs.
Fresno State Men's VB Finishes NCCVL 15-1
Fresno State Men's VB completed the NCCVL double round robin #1 going into the NCCVL league championships, April 3 @ UC Davis. On March 20, Fresno State defeated SJSU 3-1: 25-20, 19-25, 25-17, 25-19. Match highlights include: Will Nelson (OH) with 22 kills, 1.5 blocks, 1 ace, and 2 digs; Matt Mercer (MH) with 12 kills, 3 blocks, and 2 aces; Joe Sikkema (OH) with 10 kills, 1 block, 1 car and 6 digs; Brian Watkins had 7 kills and 5 blocks; and setter Mike Delotto had 52 assists, 1.5 blocks and a season high 5 digs.
Fresno State Men's Volleyball #2 in Nation
Fresno State Men's VB has been ranked #2 in the Nation after stellar team performances at the Great Western ShootOut and League tournament. In addition, three other members of our league have been ranked in the top 20, Cal (#7), Cal Poly (#9), and Davis (#12). San Jose State also received honorable mention.
Under the most amazing circumstances, we are the 2001 NCCVL Champions!!! The second consecutive year as Champions. After defeating Sac St. in the first game of the semifinals, #16 Scott Swift went down with a knee injury, we had no subs, except the libero, #12 Russ Pena. The team became panicked and lost game 2. After mentally regrouping they came back to win Game 3 on a kill by Russ Pena. We lost Game 4 due to a little mental let down and finished strong in Game 5.
Semifinals: We defeated Sac St 3-2: 25-20, 2-25, 25-21, 19-25, 16-14.
In the finals, we defeated UC Berkeley 3-1. We won the first game because they had 14 service errors. We lost the second game because we generated only 16 kills and no blocks. We won the third game because we had 11 digs with mostly successful transitions. Those digs caused Cal to make a ton of hitting errors trying to make better shots. We won the last game with 4 huge blocks (solo blocks by Gabe Brickey and Adam Parks changed the momentum of the game to us), and ran the middle towards the end of the game. To be fair, I think the long 5 game match with Davis in the Semi's made Cal pretty tired.
Fresno State won it's first league Championship in 2000 since we entered the NCCVL in 1975. The NCCVL had five teams seeded in the top twenty at the 2000 NIRSA National Championships. Fresno State Men's Volleyball team played very well at the National Championships, persevering through hotel cancellations, strange seedings, and a poorly arranged draw. Our only loss was to Utah Valley State, who played themselves into the finals against Arizona.
Fresno State Men's Volleyball won the 1st Annual West Coast Classic (formally known as the Great Eight +1; 3/11). We went 8-1 through this two day tournament held at UC Davis. Also during the season, we have won the Silver division at the Far Western Invitational Tournament and the Consolation bracket at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational Tournament.
Fresno State Men's Volleyball took 5th in the 1999 National Championships at the University of Maryland. We have added two new Fab 50 players and are hoping to perform at an even higher level this year. We will be participating in 6 tournaments this Spring, including hosting the NCCVL Championships and attending the National Championships in Reno.