Junior Cecilia Agraz was named a 2011 Capital One second-team Academic All-American - the first honor for a Fresno State volleyball student-athlete in school history.
Fresno State middle blocker Brianna Clarke hopes to leave her name in the record books before walking off the court and looks to her future after graduation.
Fresno State Indroduced Lauren Netherby-Sewell as its new head volleyball coach.
Lauren Netherby-Sewell was named the fourth head coach of the Fresno State volleyball team on February 13, 2008.
In just her second year as head volleyball coach at Fresno State and with her first complete recruiting class on the court, Netherby-Sewell led the Bulldogs to a remarkable turnaround which saw the `Dogs defeat many teams for the first time in years and set numerous records on the way to a regular season fourth place finish in the Western Athletic Conference.
With a 15-16 overall record, the best by a Bulldog team since 2004, the `Dogs also finished in a tie for fourth in the regular season and a tie for third at the WAC Tournament, their best finishes since 2004. With a WAC record of 7-9 it was the best since 2003.
Senior Kelly Leonardo and sophomore Brianna Clarke earned All-WAC second-team honors while freshman Marissa Brand was named to the All-WAC Freshman team. It was the first time again since 2004 that the `Dogs had three All-WAC Selections in one year. It was also the sixth-straight season with an All-WAC Freshman Team honoree.
Brianna Clarke posted one of the best blocking seasons in school history, ranking in the top 30 in the NCAA all year in block per set. She finished the season with 135 block assts and 158 total blocks, to rank second and third in the Fresno State single-season lists. She also ranks fifth in blocks per set with a 1.30 average.
At the Save Mart Center in 2009, the `Dogs posted an impressive 7-4 record on their home court and their highest home attendance total ever with 18,529 fans. They averaged 1,684 fans per match, another school record, and ranked in the top 30 in the nation in average attendance.
In her first year with the program in 2008 she guided freshmen Baylee Platt and Brianna Clarke to WAC All-Freshman team honors, as it was the first time in Fresno State history that two freshmen had made the team in the same season.
The `Dogs posted an improved record of 7-20 overall and a 3-13 Western Athletic Conference record in 2008. The `Dogs finished eighth in the regular season WAC standings and earned an opening round victory over Louisiana Tech in the WAC Tournament in Honolulu.
Fresno State ranked 30th in the nation in attendance in the newly configured Save Mart Center, averaging just over 1,200 fans per match.
Netherby-Sewell introduced the `Fighting Spirit Award' to Fresno State in 2008, an award that began at Hofstra by Hall of Fame coach Fran Kalafer. The award is given out at the conclusion of each match to the student-athlete who has that fighting spirit through adversity and challenges and who keeps fighting no matter what the situation is. Allanah Munson and Baylee Platt were the first-ever Fresno State winners of the award.
The 2009 recruiting class of Cecilia Agraz, Taylor Horton and Marissa Brand, earned honorable mention honors from prepvolleyball.com. It was the first such honor for any Fresno State volleyball team.
She began her head coaching career at Hofstra University in New York. Netherby-Sewell was named head coach on November 13, 2006 after serving as interim head coach since August 2006 following the retirement of Kalafer. In two seasons, Netherby-Sewell compiled a career coaching record of 43-19 overall and a conference record of 26-6.
In her first season at the helm of the program, Netherby-Sewell took a team that lost two starters and led the team to great heights. The Pride posted a 24-7 record, a 17-1 conference record and won the Colonial Athletic Association championship for Hofstra's first league title since 2000 (America East). Netherby-Sewell then coached the team to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, a five-game win over Cornell.
Hofstra climbed from 75 in the NCAA RPI rankings at the start of 2006 and finished a program-best 35th. The team was also ranked second in the East Region.
Under Netherby-Sewell's tutelage, senior middle blocker Liz Curley became Hofstra's first volleyball All-American, while also earning CAA Player of the Year accolades. In addition, setter Shellane Ogoshi repeated as CAA Setter of the Year. Both players also earned first team All-CAA accolades, while Beverly Rivera was a second team all-conference selection.
Netherby-Sewell was recognized for her team's accomplishments by receiving Honorable Mention National Coach of the Year honors from College Volleyball Update.
Netherby-Sewell would bring Hofstra back to the CAA title match in 2007 as the Pride compiled a 19-12 mark during the season, including a 9-5 record in conference action. It marked Hofstra's first back-to-back title match appearances since the 1999 and 2000 squads won the America East. The Pride had three players honored by the CAA as Ogoshi was an All-CAA first team selection, while junior outside hitter Lauren Engle garnered second team accolades and senior middle blocker Amanda Beyersdorff was a third team honoree. Ogoshi and Engle were also named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District I first team, while Ogoshi closed her career number one on the career assists and digs chart.
Netherby-Sewell joined the Pride staff after serving as an assistant volleyball coach at Columbia University for two seasons, where she was also pursuing her master's degree in physical education. In her only season as an assistant coach, Netherby-Sewell helped lead the Pride to a 19-8 record and a regular season Colonial Athletic Association championship and assisted in training the 2005 Colonial Athletic Association Setter and Player of the Year (Shellane Ogoshi) and three all-conference selections (Ogoshi, Tessa Sphar and Talita Silva).
In her two seasons at Columbia, Netherby-Sewell assisted with the training of student-athletes, planned practices, handled team travel arrangements and served as the recruiting coordinator. Her first recruiting class in 2004 helped the Lions add three victories to their win total from 2003, and her 2005 recruiting class, which included All-Ivy freshman Amalia Viti, helped Columbia double their 2004 victory total.
In addition to her experience at Columbia, Netherby-Sewell was head coach of the Club Asics Long Island 17-1's team in the spring 2005 and led the squad to three first place finishes. In 2000 she assisted in the training for the Sierra Nevada Volleyball Club's 18-1's squad.
Following graduation Netherby-Sewell was a marketing coordinator and assistant art director for the Breckenridge Group, a restaurant management firm, from October 2001 to April 2002 where she helped create local marketing and advertising campaigns. Among her clients were On the Border, Applebee's and Burger King. In April 2002 she founded her own advertising agency, Netherby Advertising, which developed, designed and executed advertising plans for the Breckenridge Group.
A 2001 graduate of the University of Nevada with a degree in advertising and journalism, Netherby-Sewell was a starter on the 1998 Wolf Pack team that received recognition in the top 25, won the Eastern Division of the Big West Conference and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. A captain in 1999, she was named MVP at the Duke University Tournament and garnered several other all-tournament honors. Netherby-Sewell still holds the Nevada single-match record for kills with 32, which she set against New Mexico State on October 8, 1998.
Netherby-Sewell enjoyed her finest season in 1998, when she returned from off-season heart surgery to post career-highs of 378 kills, 252 digs, 44 service aces (which ranked second in the Big West) and 41 1/2 blocks. The 378 kills ranks 10th on Nevada's single season list, while her 44 aces are sixth in single season history. Netherby-Sewell is also represented on the Wolf Pack's career record list, as she is eighth in kills (767) and 10th in service aces (87).
While an undergraduate at Nevada, Netherby-Sewell interned in the Wolf Pack athletic department, assisting in marketing and event coordination. She assisted in the organization and production of the Sixth Annual Salute to Champions Dinner and Silent Auction that featured Olympic softball gold medalist Dot Richardson, and raised a significant amount of money for the women's athletics program at Nevada.
A native of San Clemente, California, Netherby-Sewell was a standout at San Clemente High School and for the Laguna Beach Volleyball Club.
She is married to James Sewell, the Staff Assistant to the Athletic Director at Fresno State and a native to Long Island, N.Y.
LAUREN NETHERBY-SEWELL'S CAREER COACHING RECORD
2006 Hofstra University 24-7, 17-1 CAA NCAA Tournament, CAA Champions
2007 Hofstra University 19-12, 9-5 CAA CAA Tournament Finalists
2008 Fresno State 7-20, 3-13 WAC
2009 Fresno State 15-16, 7-9 WAC
TOTAL 65-55 overall, 26-6 CAA, 10-22 WAC
