Nov. 14, 2009
Northridge, Calif. - Senior Alex Wolnisty had 10 kills and eight blocks to lead Cal State Fullerton to a 3-0 sweep of Cal State Northridge Saturday night in a Big West Conference volleyball match in The Matadome.
The Titans second road win in 2009 was a big one, securing just the fifth winning season in Cal State Fullerton's history and improving their season records to 16-11, 7-7. It is just the third time in school history that the Titans have had seven or more conference wins, and just the fifth time in school history with 16-or-more overall victories.
Cal State Northridge, which won the first match between the two squads back on Oct. 16, splits the season series with the Titans and falls to 8-20, 4-10.
Wolnisty, who hit .318 for the match, was helped offensively by junior Erin Saddler, who knocked down 10 kills, and rookie Kayla Neto who scored nine kills. The team collectively hit just .175 but maintained a solid defensive effort in the 26-24, 25-19, 25-18 victory.
Fullerton out-dug (52 to 44) and out-blocked (14.0 to 13.0) the Matadors and held the home team to just a .054 attack percentage in its ninth three-set sweep of the year. Both Andrea Ragan and Cami Croteau posted 11 digs apiece in from the back row, while Wolnisty's seven block assits and one solo was tops in the blocking department for the Titans. Neto, Andrea Ragan and Deven Bukoski each added four blocks to the mix as well.
Northridge's Tela Burnett led all players with nine block assists while Monica McFarland paced the floor with 15 digs in the loss. No Matador reached double figures in kills. Lynda Morales led the squad with eight.
With seven block assists Friday night, Wolnisty moved to within 13 block assists of tying the school record set by Brittany Moore from 2005-08. She currently ranks third all-time in CSF history in total blocks with 336 (27 from the top spot).
Croteau is also moving closer to setting a school career record in digs. With 11 tonight, she now sits just 77 career digs behind Vanessa Vella (2004-06) for the school record. Croteau has 1,521 career digs to her credit, she sit just outside the Big West Conference's Top 10 all-time dig leaders.
Fullerton will next hit the floor next Friday and Saturday at UC Irvine and UC Riverside, respectively. Both matches with begin at 7 p.m., with the UCR match wrapping up the Titans' 2009 conference docket.