FULLERTON, Calif. –
The Titans play their final home game of the 2014 season as UC Irvine comes to Titan Gym Saturday on Senior Night.
FOLLOW THE TITANS:
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans), Instagram (@FullertonTitans), and YouTube.com (YouTube.com/csfathletics). In addition, the volleyball team has established its own official Twitter page (@FullertonVB).
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Television: None
Streaming Video: Titans fans can catch a live video stream of Saturday night's match against UC Irvine from Titan Gym. The link can be found on FullertonTitans.com.
Audio Webcast: An audio webcast will be available for both of the Titans matches this week. Links can be found at FullertonTitans.com.
Live Stats: Live in-game stats for Saturday's match will be available through the links at FullertonTitans.com
TICKETS:
Tickets for all Titans home games can be purchased online at fullertontitans.com, or at the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office, located in the Titan House on campus off of Gymnasium Drive on the northeast side of Titan Gym. Game day sales and will call tickets will open an hour prior to the scheduled time at the specific venue. All Cal State Fullerton students with a school ID get free admission.
SENIOR NIGHT AT TITAN GYM:
The Titans will honor senior Devin Ulmer with a pregame ceremony on Saturday night, while also recognizing the four seniors on UC Irvine's squad. The team will also host a post-match reception following the match in honor of the Titans senior, which will be held upstairs at Titan Gym and include a meal catered by Tlaquepaque Restaurant. Head coach Carolyn Zimmerman will also give a speech at the reception. Reservations can be made online and each attendee is encouraged to make a donation to the volleyball program. For more information, please contact Aly Fascetti at (657)278-7034 or afascetti@fullerton.edu.
--RSVP Here for Senior Night Reception--
SATURDAY, NOV. 22 VS. UC IRVINE (TITAN GYM), 7 P.M.
Cal State Fullerton (8-18, 2-11) at UC Irvine (17-11, 7-6)
Series Record: UC Irvine leads 38-29
Big West Record: UC Irvine leads 30-23
First Meeting: Won, Oct. 22, 1980; 15-8, 15-6, 15-10
Last Meeting: Lost, Oct. 24, 2014; 25-22, 17-25, 11-25, 18-25
Current Streak: Lost 3
Last 10 Meetings: 5-5
UC IRVINE NOTES:
•The Anteaters have alternated wins in their last four matches and are coming off a four-set loss to UC Davis on the road.
•UC Irvine is currently fifth in the Big West Conference standings, five games back of first-place and unbeaten Long Beach State. The Anteaters are a half game back of CSUN for fourth place and 2.5 back of the Rainbow Wahine for third.
•With three matches remaining, the Anteaters will finish with the second highest number of wins in head coach Paula Weishoff's six-year tenure.
•UC Irvine currently ranks first in the Big West in digs per set (16.21) and second in assists per set (12.75) and kills per set (13.66).The Anteaters are also third in opponent hitting percentage (.242) and aces per set (1.35).
•Currently the Big West leader in digs per set (4.46), Arden Davis jumped into the UC Irvine single-season top-10 this week after logging 33 digs in two matches, pushing her total to 468.
•Setter Shelley Anderson tops the conference with a 10.66 assists per set average. She is the only player in the league to have 1,000 assists or more, having tallied 1,034 on the year. Anderson is also fourth on the team with 18 aces and 42 blocks.
•Cassidy Pickrell had three aces against UC Davis and pulled ahead of teammate Allison Lee in the Big West in ace average. Pickrell leads the conference with 40 aces and is third with a 0.38 per set average. Pickrell also leads the team with 363 kills and is third on the squad with 292 digs this season.
PREVIOUS MEETING - UC IRVINE 3, CAL STATE FULLERTON 1:
On Oct. 24, the Titans got off to a quick start by taking the opening set from the Anteaters at the Bren Center, but UC Irvine bounced back to take the next three sets to record the victory. The Titans hit just .099 on the night while the Anteaters attacked at a .309 clip despite a sluggish opening set. Freshman Niki Withers led the way for the Titans offensively, recording 17 kills to go along with three digs. Holland Crenshaw chipped in with nine kills and Mackenzie Olsen recorded a double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs. The Titans started out strong, out hitting the Anteaters .222 to .143 in the opening set. Withers tallied seven kills in the frame while hitting at a .467 clip. It was a tight set as the teams were tied for much of the latter part of the game. With the score tied at 20, Withers blasted her sixth kill of the frame to give the Titans the lead. An attacking error by Pickrell gave Fullerton a two-point cushion and then Olsen recorded an ace to give the Titans a 23-20 edge. The Anteaters fought back to cut the deficit to one, but Withers' seventh kill of the frame and a kill from Megan Kurz secured the set for the Titans and gave the visitors a 1-0 lead. Kurz finished the night with six kills and three digs. But the Anteaters responding by taking the second set and then took the lead for good with a dominant third-set performance, holding the Titans to 11 points and a .000 hitting percentage as Fullerton made eight errors to offset eight kills in the frame.
FULLERTON'S HISTORY FACING THE ANTEATERS:
Prior to the 2013 season, the Titans had won six consecutive meetings between the teams, but recorded just one sweep in the process. The Anteaters took both matches of the season series last year, sweeping the Titans at the Bren Center in the first meeting followed by a five-set victory at Fullerton, marking the Anteaters first victory at Titan Gym since 2009. The Titans have not lost consecutive matches to the Anteaters at Titan Gym since dropping the final match of the series in 2008 and then dropping the opening game of the series in 2009.
SENIOR CITIZEN:
Senior Devin Ulmer will be recognized prior to the match on Saturday night as part of the Titans Senior night. Ulmer is the only senior on the team this year and has played in 24 matches and 77 sets this year. Ulmer has tallied 135 digs this year, 16 shy of her career-high of 151 during her sophomore season in 2012. She is currently averaging 1.75 digs per set and has tallied 13 service aces, both marks a new career high. Ulmer has recorded four double-digit dig performances this year and set a new career high with 15 on Oct. 11 against UC Santa Barbara. She would eclipse that mark a few weeks later when she posted 17 digs in a four-set match at Cal Poly on Nov. 8. In 81 career matches played for Fullerton, Ulmer has played in 268 sets and tallied 368 digs for a 1.37 per set average to go along 28 service aces and 27 assists.
REED 'EM AND WEEP:
Cal State Fullerton sophomore Paige Reed earned a nod as the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday. Reed set a new season-high with 19 digs in the Titans sweep over UC Riverside on Saturday night at Titan Gym. She averaged 6.33 digs per set on the night and also chipped in with two assists and a service ace. The Vallejo, Calif. native notched also had 13 digs in Thursday night's match at UC Davis, bringing her total to 32 for the week. She averaged 5.33 digs per set overall in two matches and six sets played for the Titans. Reed has recorded double-digit digs in her last eight matches, tallying 15-plus digs in six of them. Reed has tallied 128 total digs during the eight-match stretch and is averaging 4.27 digs per set during that period. She has also dished out 18 assists and recorded five service aces in those eight matches. Reed became the second Titans player to earn the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week award this season and first since McKenna Painton was given the nod after the first week of the year.
THE DOUBLE DEUCE:
Freshman Niki Withers had one of her best performances of the season in the Titans' victory over UC Riverside Saturday night at Titan Gym. The Lakewood, Calif. native blasted 22 kills on the night and set a new career-best with a .400 hitting percentage (22-6-40). It was Withers' fifth 20-plus kill output of the season and she has now recorded double-figures in kills in 23 matches this season including nine straight.
SERVE AND PASS:
The Titans had five service aces in Saturday night's win over UC Riverside while the Highlanders managed three. It was the 10th time the Titans have had more aces than their opponent and it was the team's seventh victory when that occurs. The Titans also had 44 assists compared to 27 for the Highlanders, pushing Fullerton's record to 6-2 when posting more assists than the opponent.
THIS IS FORTY:
Setter Mackenzie Olsen dished out 40 assists in Saturday night's win against UC Riverside. It was the ninth time this season that Olsen recorded 40 helpers in a match and second time in the last three matches. In those nine matches, Olsen has tallied 402 total assists and averaged 10.58 assists per set.
BIG WEST MARKS
The Titans have a few players near the top of the conference rankings:
• Freshman Niki Withers is currently ranked third in the conference with a 3.82 kills per set average, which also ranks 65th in the nation. She also ranks second in the Big West with 367 total kills.
• Mackenzie Olsen has dished out 9.66 assists per set this season for the Titans, which ranks fifth in the Big West.
• Holland Crenshaw leads the team with a .321 hitting percentage, which ranks fifth in the conference. Crenshaw has tallied 259 kills with 68 errors in 595 attempts this year.
CAROLYN ZIMMERMAN:
In her 13th season at Cal State Fullerton, Carolyn Zimmerman currently possesses an all-time record of 181-203 (.471). The sixth head coach in Fullerton's 37-year history; she is the winningest (.471) head coach in CSF volleyball program history.
