Oct. 29, 2010
Fullerton, Calif. - Erin Saddler led all players with 17 kills on the night as Cal State Fullerton swept UC Santa Barbara, 26-24, 25-17, 25-18, in a key Big West Conference volleyball match Friday night in Titan Gym.
The Titans improve to 18-5 on the year and 7-2 in Big West action and also jump to 12-1 in Titan Gym. With the win on Friday night, the Titans tie their school record for wins in a season and also sweep UC Santa Barbara in the season series for the first time in program history. The Gauchos, who came into Titan Gym in first place by a half a game, drop to 13-10 overall and 7-3 in league.
The Titans' Saturday night opponent Cal Poly (18-6, 8-3) beat Long Beach State (16-5, 6-3) on Friday to put Fullerton back into first place by percentage points. The standings now look like this: Fullerton (7-2, .778), Cal Poly (8-3, .727), UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis (7-3, .700), and Long Beach State (6-3, .667).
Saddler was key to the victory Friday night, blasting six kills in the first set, seven in the second set and four in the third to lift the Titans to their 16th sweep of the season. The senior hit .273 on the match and also added three blocks, five digs and an ace to the cause.
Sophomore Kayla Neto hit .500 with 10 kills to supplement Saddler's effort. Torrie Brown had a match-high five blocks, four of which were solos.
For UC Santa Barbara, hitter Kara Sherrard had a team-high 11 kills on the night. She hit just four points under the team attack percentage at .182.
Cami Croteau continued her chase of the Big West Conference dig record with another 19 digs in the win. She led all players and became the second Big West player to ever reach the 2000-dig plateau. She is now 132 behind Cal Poly's Kristin Jackson (2004-07) for the record.
Santa Barbara's Kelly Heenan and Charlene DeHoog combined for 27 digs on the Gaucho side.
The Titans will conclude their current homestand on Saturday night in their third straight meaningful match at 7 p.m. The Mustangs will be at Titan Gym while Gauchos head to Long Beach to take on the 49ers at the Pyramid.