FULLERTON, Calif. — Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball came back from a 0-2 match deficit to defeat American in five sets (13-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-12) Friday in its home opener at Titan Gym. The win improves the Titans' record to 1-6 on the season.
"We've been working so hard these last two weekends and I keep telling the team that this is preparing us," Fullerton head coach Nicole Vargas Polster said. "To see that work pay off tonight was really great."
Ameena Campbell led the Titans with a match-high 18 kills and 19 digs for her third double-double of the season. Aubrey Beaver followed with 11 kills and five digs, while Bianca Martinez had 10 kills on a .286 clip and three blocks. Lyla Traylor had 10 kills and 10 digs before leaving the game due to injury in the third set.
Ryleigh Garis dished out a career-high 52 assists while adding nine digs and four blocks. Ashley Chacon contributed 17 digs and three assists in the win. As a team, the Titans notched a season-high 59 kills on a .186 percentage to American's 54. Fullerton also tallied 57 assists to American's 48 and 77 digs to the Eagles' 71.
The Titans started the match off by scoring the contest's first point. However, American returned the heat, using an 8-0 run to take a 19-9 lead. The Titans tried their best to respond, with Martinez recording a .667 hitting percentage in the first set. Traylor recorded three kills and Chacon had a set-high six digs. In the end, the Titans posted a hitting percentage of .167 compared to American's .406, as the Eagles beat the Titans 25-12 in the first set of the match.
In a game that started back and forth, the Titans ended up falling 25-16 in set two. Beaver scored the first point for the Titans with a kill to lead things off. Campbell recorded an impressive collection of six kills to put the Titans on top, 10-7. Following a 16-2 run by American, Martinez responded with a kill along with Traylor. However, it was not enough to take the set, as the Eagles won it 25-16 to take a 2-0 match lead.
Set three was competitive throughout, with the Titans outnumbering the Eagles in digs (19-17) and blocks (4-2) in the frame. Tryalor kept the Titans in the set with a trio of kills, giving Fullerton a 15-14 lead. Later in the set, Campbell joined in with another trio of kills to put the Titans up 22-15. The Titan momentum caused American to call timeout. Immediately after the timeout, Traylor suffered an apparent arm injury, taking her out of the match. Fullerton maintained its composure to take the third set, 25-22.
The Titans kept their momentum alive into the fourth set, with a pair of kills from Beaver and one from Campbell putting Fullerton up 6-2. Teams traded runs until Willams came in with a strong kill followed by one from Campbell to give the Titans a 15-14 lead. With the set later tied at 22, a Beaver kill followed by two more from Williams clinched the game, 25-22, as the Titans finished the frame with a total of 15 kills.
Fullerton came out strong in set five, with a Martinez kill giving Fullerton a 7-4 lead. American fought back to tie the game at nine, but the Titans answered with kills by Beaver, Williams and Campbell to take the set, 15-12, and complete the five-set comeback.
Up next, the Titans will face Grand Canyon at Titan Gym next Friday, September 15th, as part of the Big West/WAC Showdown. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the volleyball team has established its own Twitter (@Fullerton_WVB) and Instagram accounts (Fullerton_WVB).
