Nov. 12, 2010
Fullerton, Calif. - Both Erin Saddler and Torrie Brown logged a match high 11 kills Friday night as Cal State Fullerton (23-5, 11-2) defeated visiting UC Irvine (6-20, 2-11), 25-9, 25-22, 25-19 in a Big West Conference Volleyball match at Titan Gym.
The Titans are winners of 19 of their last 21 and are riding a six-match winning streak down the stretch. With each win, the Titans set new school records for overall wins, conference wins and home wins, and hold on to a one-match lead over second place Long Beach State for the Big West crown. The Titans are now 15-1 at home in 2010 and have swept their opponent in 19 of their 23 victories.
The Titans came out strong against the Anteaters jumping out to a 6-0, a 12-4 and a 20-5 lead before taking the first set by a 16-point margin without surrendering a lead. In set's two and three, it was a different story with the Anteaters battling it out with the Titans most of the way. In the second set, the Anteaters jumped out to a 9-2 lead over the Titans, but surrendered it at 14-13 where the Titans never looked back.
Saddler and Brown paced the floor but Kayla Neto and Leah Maurer both added eight kills along the way. The Titans as a team hit .242 while holding their opponent to just a .103 clip.
Saddler also added 10 digs on the night, to notch her 8th double-double of the season. Fullerton's Cami Croteau and Irvine's Kristin Winkler shared the match high in digs with 16.
The 16 scoops for Croteau kept her on place to catch former Cal Poly standout Kristin Jackson for the all-time Big West lead in career digs. Croteau now has 2,092 career digs and is just 40 scoops shy of Jackson's record 2,132 career digs with three regular season matches to play.
Juliane Piggott (8) and Kari Pestolesi (7) combined for 15 kills to pace the Irvine squad offensively. Winkler's 16 digs, and two blocks each from Alexanda Hauser and Shannon Fleming, led the Anteaters defensively.
The Titans out-blocked the Anteaters 7.0 to 4.5, with Brown leading the way with four blocks, two of which were solos. Neto also added three in the win.
The Titans will play UC Riverside (2-27, 0-13) on Saturday night in their final home match of the season. Seniors Saddler, Croteau and Genie Francisco will be honored prior to the first serve, scheduled at 7 p.m.