FULLERTON, Calif. - Aside from a slight blemish in the opening set, Cal State Fullerton fired on all cylinders as the young squad scored a 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18) victory over visiting Bucknell in the Titans' opening match of the Titan Classic Friday night at Titan Gym.
The Titans (1-0) got double-digit kills from three players and tallied a .243 hitting percentage as a team to prevail over Bucknell (0-1). Freshmen Niki Withers and Megan Kurz were each impressive in their debuts as Withers hammered down 20 kills while Kurz recorded a double-double, smashing down 15 kills to go along with 17 digs.
Junior Holland Crenshaw manned the middle to perfection, tallying 17 kills with a stellar .368 hitting percentage to go along with a team-high five blocks. As a team, the Titans were stellar defensively with 18 blocks and 89 digs.
Four players had double-digit digs, led by sophomore libero McKenna Painton who tallied 30 on the night. Freshman Katie Roux had 14 digs and Paige Reed added 13 for the Titans defense.
The Titans started on the right note, taking a four-point lead midway through the first set. But they allowed the Bison to come back and let a late two-point lead slip away and the Titans fell behind by a set early.
But Fullerton recovered nicely, using a number of runs in the second and third set to pull away from the Bison and then closed the match out with an 8-3 scoring run, most of that coming on the serve o senior Devin Ulmer.
Mackenzie Olsen dished out 35 assists in her Titans debut but had to exit midway through the third set with a leg cramp. Luckily for Fullerton, Roux stepped in nicely as she passed out 22 assists of her own to help the Titans pull out the victory.
The Titan Classic will conclude Saturday with four matches on the slate. The Titans take on Sacred Heart at 12:30 p.m. and then close out the night against Texas Tech at 7 p.m. The Red Raiders defeated Sacred Heart in the opening match of the Titan Classic on Friday, scoring a 3-0 sweep.
Notes: Along with her 35 assists, Olsen also had five kills in eight attempts without committing an error… The Titans had two players record double-doubles (Roux, Kurz) for the first time since Nov. 15, 2013 when Bre Moreland and Julie Consani accomplished the feat… Withers was the first Titan with 20 kills in a match since Crenshaw smashed down 20 in a loss at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 22, 2013.