SAN FRANCISCO – Cal State Fullerton got 11 kills from sophomore Katelyn Nielsen and 19 digs from Paige Reed but it was not enough in a 3-1 (25-11, 19-25, 17-25, 23-25) loss to North Dakota State Friday afternoon at the San Francisco Challenge in War Memorial Gym.
The Titans (0-10) recorded more blocks and digs than the Bison (8-3) but were outhit .176 to .144. Summer Kerins tallied eight kills while Mackenzie Olsen finished with 26 assists and seven digs for Fullerton.
Emily Minnick and Jenni Fassbender led the Bison with 12 kills apiece and Brianna Rasmussen dished out 32 assists.
The Titans cruised to a 1-0 lead after running away with the first set, 25-11. The game was close in the early going with Fullerton holding a 9-8 lead at one point. That's when the Titans ran off seven straight points and 10 of the next 11 to take a commanding 19-9 advantage and they never looked back. The Titans hit .500 (9-0-18) in the first set while the Bison struggled with a .065 (10-8-31) attacking percentage.
But that would be the only set in which the Titans outhit the Bison as North Dakota State recorded 43 kills in the final three sets while the Titans had 29.
In the second set, the Titans trailed 16-14 before the Bison pulled away with a 5-1 run to gain a six-point cushion and would go on to take the frame by that margin.
The Bison took the next set to take a 2-1 lead in the match but the Titans jumped out to a 19-12 lead in the fourth. After a timeout, the Bison scored four of the next five points to force Fullerton to take both of its timeouts. But the Bison continued to surge and would go on to outscore the Titans 13-4 to close out the match.
The Titans will return to action Saturday to take on San Francisco at 12:30 p.m. followed by Yale at 4:30 p.m.
Notes: Precious Manu started for the Titans and tallied seven kills to go along with six digs… J'Nai Higgins got her first action of 2015 and finished with 10 digs… Kyra Smith tied a career high with eight blocks and set a new career best with five solo blocks.
