2024 TEAMS VOLLEYBALL 1984 FRESNO STATE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL Entering the 1984 season little was expected of the Fresno State volleyball squad. The program had finished the previous season with a 12-12 record. Prognosticators pegged the Bulldogs for a fifth-place finish in the NorPac Conference. Leilani Overstreet did not agree with the naysayers. The Fresno State…
2024 TRACK INDUCTEE SID NIKOLAS Saturday, June 14, 1964, was a historic day for Fresno State. On that day the Bulldogs track and field team won the school’s first-ever national championship, the NCAA college division title. The catalyst for that triumph was Sid Nickolas. Born in New Orleans, Nickolas moved as a young child with…
2024 VOLLEYBALL INDUCTEE VICKI SAMARIN Finding a backyard volleyball net after a family move changed the course of Vicki Samarin’s life. Samarin was born in Kerman but at a young age, her family moved to Reedley where volleyball was a popular sport. The Samarin’s new house came with a volleyball net in the backyard. Backyard…
2024 TENNIS INDUCTEE MARILYN HAMILTON One of the greatest and most electrifying running backs in Fresno State history, Ryan Mathews unique combination of power, speed, and elusiveness made him a Bulldog record setter and twice a 1,000-yard rusher in the National Football League. When Mathews arrived at Fresno State from West Bakersfield High, he was…
2024 TRACK INDUCTEE NICOLE CARROLL For Nicole Carroll destiny came down to one throw. She needed to win the javelin competition at the Olympic trials to make the U.S. team and compete in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. To relax she whistled. When her name was called to make her sixth and final throw…
2024 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE RYAN MATHEWS One of the greatest and most electrifying running backs in Fresno State history, Ryan Mathews unique combination of power, speed, and elusiveness made him a Bulldog record setter and twice a 1,000-yard rusher in the National Football League. When Mathews arrived at Fresno State from West Bakersfield High, he was…