Nov. 3, 2006

SERVICE! Cal State Fullerton (15-8, 4-5) currently sits in fifth place in the Big West Conference and will have its work cut out for itself this weekend, hosting first place, No. 19 Cal Poly (17-5, 9-1) and fourth place UC Santa Barbara (13-10, 5-5). Both opponents defeated the Titans in earlier meeting this year at their respective arenas.

The Titans are coming off their first-ever series sweep of Pacific in a 3-0 sweep at Titan Gym on Oct. 28. Fullerton lost 41 consecutive games from 1985-2004, since their fist victory in 2004, the Titans have had the Tigers' number going 4-1 overall and 3-0 at Titan Gym.

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ON THE AIR: All of the remaining Titan volleyball game will be brought to you live on fullertontitans.com by play-by announcer Patrick Alog. Also, all Big West Conference matches can be seen live on BigWest TV. With a subscription, you can watch the action as it happens, right from your personal computer. Just go to bigwest.org/tv for more details.

LAST WEEK: For the first time ever, Cal State Fullerton swept a season series from Pacific and in the process Saturday clinched just its third winning season in the history of the volleyball program as the Titans beat Pacific, 3-0, (30-20, 30-14, 30-18) in Titan Gym. The victory ensured the Titans' first winning season since Mary Ellen Murchison's 1996 squad did it with a 16-13 record.

Breanna Trudeau blasted 14 kills and hit .306 to lead all players while Brittany Moore set a career high in blocks, collecting nine total (three solos). Freshman Alex Wolnisty finished right behind Moore with eight of her own including two solos.

Thursday night, Fullerton tangled with UC Davis in a non-conference meeting up north and was stunned for the second time this season as the Aggies came back from an 0-2 deficit to beat the Titans, 24-30, 29-31, 30-20, 30-15, 15-13.

Trudeau, Deven Bukoski and Moore each posted kills in double digits, but Vanessa Vella's 37 digs was the story for the Titans in the loss. Her new career-high was also a school record, breaking her old mark of 35 digs in a game.

VERSUS THE MUSTANGS: The Titans are just 3-37 all time against Cal Poly, losing their last 17 matches. The last Titan victory Oct. 4, 1997 at Titan Gym. Earlier this season, Fullerton fell 22-30, 21-30, 26-30 as Kylie Atherstone hit .342 with 17 kills to lead the Mustangs to victory. Deven Bukoski had a double-double (10 kills, 17 digs) for the Titans in the losing effort.

VERSUS THE GAUCHOS: The Titans are looking for their first-ever victory against UC Santa Barbara. A victory would snap the Titans' 52-match losing streak to UCSB, the longest streak to any one team in the history of the volleyball program. The two teams have been facing off since 1982. The Gauchos swept the Titans in their meeting on Oct. 6, 30-25, 30-20, 30-27 behind 28 kills between Olivia Waldowski and Brett Quirarte. Fullerton's Breanna Trudeau would lead the Titan offense with 10 kills.

QUICK HITS:
&\#149; With a victory on Oct. 28 over Pacific, Cal State Fullerton insured just its third-ever winning season in the program's existence. With just one more win, the Titans will tie the 1996 team with the second-highest win total with 16. Fullerton needs just three more victories in its remaining six matches to tie the best-ever win total set by Fran Cumming's 1981 team that posted a 18-17 record.

&\#149; Fullerton's current .652 winning percentage is the highest mark in the school's history. The 1996 team (16-13) holds the record by putting up a .552 percentage.

&\#149; This year's team started off 5-0, tying a school record (1985, 87, 96) with most consecutive wins to start a season. Then later posted a seven-match winning streak from Sept. 8 to Sept. 21, the best-ever streak in the program's history. The winning streak was snapped by Cal State Northridge on Sept. 23 as the Matadors downed the Titans, 3-1 in Northridge. The team would go on to the school's best-ever start at 12-1 before earning their second loss.

&\#149; The Titans recorded 14 straight winning games from Sept. 8 to Sept. 16 over a span of five matches to set a new school record. The old record was held by the 1996 squad, which posted 12 wins in a row from Oct. 9 to Oct. 14 over a span of four matches.

&\#149; The Titans were 11-0 in tournament play this season, winning three tournament titles (Four Points Titan Classic, Comcast Logo Invitational, and the Holiday Inn Fullerton Classic) in a season for the first time in the history of the program. Fullerton also competed in the Long Beach State Tournament, going 2-0. The Titans did not place in the tournament because they did not play a full tournament schedule. The Titans lost just 6 of 39 games in tournament play.

&\#149; Sophomore Brittany Moore became just the seventh Big West Player of the Week in the program's existence on 9/4/06, and first since 2004 (Lauren Goins, OH).

&\#149; The team's 28-29 record over the past two seasons has given them the best winning percentage (.491) in back-to-back years in the program's 30-year existence.

&\#149; The 2006 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll has predicted a fifth place finish for the Titans - their highest preseason ranking ever. The Titans have never won more than 6 conference matches in the history of the program.

THE ZIMMERMAN FILE: Carolyn Zimmerman is in her fifth full season as the Titan volleyball head coach, continuing to build the Cal State Fullerton program into viable contender in the always-tough Big West Conference.

In just four seasons, Zimmerman has steered the Titans from just five wins in 2002 to back-to-back 14-win seasons in 2004 and 2005. Also, over the past two seasons under her tutelage, the team has recorded the school's third best single-season win totals and posted the best winning percentage of any two consecutive years in the program's history.

Zimmerman coached her first, first-team All-Big West player in Vanessa Vella, as well as All-Big West Freshman Brittany Moore in 2005 adding to the list of her former players honored by the conference.

Coach Zimmerman's teams have now posted six pre-season tournament championships, (two in 2004, one in 2005, and all three in 2006) and three second-place finishes (two in 2003 and one in 2005) en route to a 34-17 non-conference record since 2003.

IN THE BIG WEST:
Attack Percentage: Brittany Moore, .326 (4th), Amanda Pfielschiefter, .325 (5th), Team, .207 (5th)
Opponent Attack Percentage: Team, .139 (1st)
Kills: Team 14.88 kpg (4th)
Assists: Julie Geissert, 11.43 apg (4th), Team, 13.38 apg (5th)
Blocks: Brittany Moore, 1.13 bpg (10th), Team, 2.65 bpg (5th)
Service Aces: Vanessa Vella, 0.35 sapg (5th), Team, 1.74 sapg (2nd)
Digs: Vanessa Vella, 5.30 dpg (2nd), Team, 19.45 dpg (1st)

IN THE NATIONAL STATS: Cal State Fullerton currently ranks ninth in the nation in Digs. The team is averaging 19.45 dpp, while the nation's leader, Murray State is averaging 23.87 digs per game. The Titans' No. 9 ranking is the highest of any Big West team or player in the NCAA statistical rankings.

DIG QUEEN: On Oct. 13, Vanessa Vella became the all-time Cal State Fullerton dig queen as she posted 32 digs against Cal State Northridge to pass Stephanie Scofield's (1988-91) 15-year-old career record. The junior now has 419 digs on the year and 1,479 for her career... Vella holds Fullerton's No. 1 and No. 2 spot for most digs in a season and also holds the record for most digs in a match at Fullerton with 37, which she has accomplished on Oct. 26 at UC Davis. (BELOW) She holds eight of the Top Ten single-match dig marks, including the top three spots. In the history of Titan volleyball, Vella is one of just four players to ever collect 30-or-more digs in a match. Vella has done it an unprecedented eight times in her career. To the other players credit, Vella has accomplished her feats in the libero era, with her most of her playing time occurring in the back row, defensively.

MOST DEVENITELY: Freshman Deven Bukoski has shown her versatility leading the team in double-doubles, scoring ten-or-more kills and digs in 11 times so far this season. She has posted 10-or-more kills in 15 of the Titans' 23 matches with a career-high 18 on Oct. 13 vs. CSUN. On 11 occasions, the Hawaiian native has tallied 10-or-more digs 13 times, second to only Vanessa Vella who has done it 20 times.

BLOCKIN' IT: Freshman Alex Wolnisty has come on strong at the net for the Titans over the last 8 matches, nabbing 34 total blocks (4.25 per match). Over the past eight matches, the Riverside-native has matched Titan bloc leader Brittany Moore with 26 block assists and eight solos. In her previous 12 matches played, she tallied just 12 blocks, averaging just one per match.

A HELPING HAND: Junior Julie Geissert surpassed the 2,000-assist mark on Sept. 16, a feat only two other Titans have accomplished in their careers. The junior posted the sixth-best assist total in Titan history last season when she accumulated 1114 assists and is well on her way to matching that total with 937 so far this season. The Fresno native has posted 60-or more once this season, 50-or-more assists five times, 45-or-more 10 times and passed teammate Jenna Carney on Sept. 5 at LMU, to move into fourth place all-time in assists at Cal State Fullerton. Its looking like, at this stage in the season, Geissert will not get into the 3000-assists club, the next big milestone.

CSF CAREER ASSISTS
1. 3,621 - Kim Levey (1999-02)
2. 3,388 - Stephanie Shrieve (1988-91)
3. 3,001 - Melissa Blackler (1995-97)
4. 2,442 - Julie Geissert (2004-present)
5. 1,772 - Jenna Carney (2003-present)

RE-EMERGING: Breanna Trudeau has posted 10-or more kills in each of her last four matches after a drought that saw her do it only once in the six games prior. Trudeau has led the Titans with 14 kills in the last two matches, and leads the team with 49 kills (3.50 kpg) over the last four contests....Brittany Moore has posted 17 blocks in the past two matches including her career-high nine on Oct. 28 vs. Pacific. Over her past five matches, she was averaging just 2 blocks per match. The 17 blocks moved her back into the Conference's top 10 in bocks per game with 1.13.