RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton (7-3) fell in five sets (18-25, 25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 9-15) to Seattle in their opening match at the UCR Classic.
Julia Crawford led the way once again with her fifth double-double of the season recording 21 kills and 14 digs. Makenzie Abelman finished just shy of a double-double with 44 assists and 8 digs. Savahna Costello's defensive prowess showed once again with a match-high 23 digs.
The Titans jumped out to the early lead in the first set with a 6-1 advantage, but a 9-2 Seattle scoring run would quickly change that. From that point on, it was all Redhawks as they took the first set 25-18.
The second set started as a battle as the teams exchanged points back-and-forth until around the halway mark. Trailing 11-13, the Titans would spark up a 6-0 run to take control would end the set with four straight points to take it 25-17 and even up the match.
Fullerton dominated the third set leading by as many as 21-10 down the stretch before taking it 25-18.
Looking to lock up their eighth victory of the season, CSF opened the fourth set with their most dominant scoring run of the season jumping out to a 9-0 lead before Seattle got on the board. However, the Redhawks responded with a 10-1 scoring run to tie the set up just shy of halfway. From there, it was a battle back-and-forth won by the Redhawks taking the fourth set, 25-22.
Seattle won the first point of the deciding set and never looked back knocking off the Titans 15-9 and taking the match.
Despite the loss, Cal State Fullerton's 7-3 record marks their best 10-game start to a season since 2010, the year they won the Big West Championship.
The Titans will be back in action tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. as they take on Penn in their final non-conference match.
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