FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton struggled with limiting errors in the final two sets as the Titans fell 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20) to UC Santa Barbara Saturday night at Titan Gym.
The Titans (6-14, 1-5) were outhit .229 to .151 by the Gauchos (12-8, 3-4) and failed to hit better than .091 in the final two sets. They committed 16 of their 24 attacking errors in the final two sets combined.
Madeline Schneider led the attack for Fullerton as she posted 15 kills while Shimen Fayad posted her team-best 11th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 17 digs. Meagan Carlson added 10 kills and eight digs for Fullerton while Rachel Hall added her fourth double-double of the season with 39 assists and 14 digs. The Titans were all over the court defensively as they had four players post double-digit digs en route for 81 on the match.
But the Gauchos prevailed thanks to 12 kills from Lindsay Ruddins and 11 apiece from Chanel Hoffman and Elizabeth Sheffield. Hannah Juley dished out 50 assists while setting the Gauchos to a .229 (60-21-170) attacking percentage.
After dropping the first set in overtime, the Titans bounced back to take the second as Summer Kerins posted five of her eight kills in the frame. Fayad and Schneider added four apiece in the set as the Titans posted a .324 attacking percentage, committing just three errors in the frame. The Titans were never threatened in the frame as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead and eventually ballooned the lead to eight. They kept that pace until set point when they led 24-16. The Gauchos rallied for four straight points but Fayad slammed down the clinching kill to tie the match at a set apiece.
The third set was tightly contested as the teams were tied 12 times and traded the lead on 10 occasions. The decisive run came when the teams were tied at 17 all as the Gauchos ran off six straight points to take control and then Rowan Ennis smacked down one of her nine kills to clinch the set for UCSB and put them ahead 2-1.
The Gauchos clinched the match in the fourth set thanks to a 7-2 scoring run after both teams were tied 10-10. UCSB wouldn't look back as Ennis recorded her final kill of the night on match point to send the Titans to their fifth straight loss.
Fullerton will head to UC Irvine on Thursday night for its next match and then travel to UC Davis on Saturday.