Box Score (PDF)
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Cal State Fullerton suffered its fourth consecutive loss after falling to No. 24 Hawai'i 3-0 (18-25, 19-25, 15-25) Friday night at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Titans (6-10, 0-3) dropped their second contest to a ranked opponent this season and suffered the fourth consecutive sweep during the current losing streak. The Titans were outhit .296 to .077 by the Rainbow Wahine (11-3, 3-0).
Holland Crenshaw led the way offensively for the Titans with seven kills and freshman Katelyn Nielsen added five kills. Niki Withers tallied four kills and Mackenzie Olsen dished out 19 assists. On the defensive end, McKenna Painton had six digs to lead the tem while Katie Roux added five with Rachel Brown and Withers tallying four apiece.
For the Rainbow Wahine, reigning Big West Freshman Player of the Week Kalei Greeley led the way with 10 kills, the only player to record double digits on the night. Tai Manu-Olevao added nine kills with sophomore Nikki Taylor pitching in with seven. Tayler Higgins had 29 assists to set the Rainbow Wahine to a .296 hitting percentage.
The Titans jumped out to a quick 7-1 advantage in the first set to put the hosts on their heels early. Crenshaw hammered down two of her kills in that opening run while Withers and Nielsen each added one with a pair of attacking errors by the Rainbow Wahine peppered in between.
But the Rainbow Wahine came out of a timeout and proceeded to score 14 of the next 18 points to take a 15-11 lead. They would pull away late and clinch the set on a kill from Olivia Magill, who finished the night with four without an error.
In the second frame, the Titans fell in a deep 11-3 hole but clawed all the way back to cut the deficit to one, trailing 16-15 at one point. But the hosts scored five of the next six points to regain control of the set.
The Titans will return to Titan Gym on October 10 when they host Cal Poly at 7 p.m. Fans attending the match will receive a free Titans keychain while supplies last.
Notes: The Titans failed to have a player record double-digit kills for the second consecutive match… The Titans matched the Rainbow Wahine with eight total blocks, including solo blocks from Olsen and Nielsen… Fullerton had 27 digs on the night while Hawai'i tallied 24. It was the Titans' fifth loss when recording more digs than their opponent… The Titans faced the largest road crowd of the season as 6,321 fans packed the Stan Sheriff Center for Friday night's match.