RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton got double-digit kills from three players but it was not enough as the Titans fell 3-2 (27-25, 10-25, 25-14, 29-31, 10-15) Friday night at the SRC Center in Riverside, Calif.
Megann Delgado set a new career high with 18 kills for the Titans (0-13, 0-1) and also posted a .275 attacking percentage while Kyra Hill and Kyra Smith added 16 and 13 kills respectively against the Highlanders (6-8, 1-0). Mackenzie Olsen recorded her second double-double of the season with 45 assists and 12 digs while Rachel Brown posted a new career high with 18 digs to lead the team.
For the Highlanders, Alexis Urbach led the way with 18 kills while Helena Peric added 16, Alex Gresham had 12 kills and Meg Graham posted 11 in the win. Peric finished with a double-double as she added 10 digs while Chelsea Doyle added a double-double of her own with 47 assists and 13 digs.
The Titans jumped ahead by taking the first set 27-25. Fullerton fought off a set point at 24-23 and scored four of the next five points to take a 1-0 lead.
Riverside ran away with the second set, 25-10, to even the match but the Titans took the lead after taking the third set by 11 points. Fullerton outhit the Highlanders .286 to -.081 in the third to take the lead, getting four kills from Smith and three apiece from Hill and Delgado in the frame as the Titans led wire-to wire.
The fourth set went back-and-forth as the teams were tied seven times in the set and traded the lead four times. The Highlanders fought off three match points before Gresham posted a kill to put the Highlanders up 30-29 and then an attacking error by Delgado gave Riverside the set and sent the teams into a deciding fifth set.
In the final frame, the teams were tied for times but the lead switched hands only once. With the game tied 4-4, the Highlanders ran off six of the next eight points to take a 10-6 lead and they would outscore the Titans 11-6 to close out the match.
Fullerton will head to UC Irvine on Sept. 30 before returning to Titan Gym on Oct. 2 to face Hawai'i.
Notes: The Titans scored 27 points to win the first set, the most scored by the team in a set this season. They would break that in the third set when they scored 29 points in a losing effort… Fullerton was held to 10 points in the second set, the lowest point total for the team in a set this season… The Titans had five players record double-digit digs for the first time this season… Olsen flirted with her first career triple-double, tying a career high with seven block assists… Smith's 13 kills were a new career high… The Titans loss to Riverside snapped a 20-match winning streak for Fullerton against the Highlanders. Friday night was Riverside's first victory over Fullerton since Oct. 28, 2004, which also went five sets.
