Irvine, Calif. - Marisa Bubica paced the the floor with 15 kills as UC Irvine (11-10, 2-5) dispatched Cal State Fullerton (9-9, 2-4) in three straight sets, 25-18, 25-17, 25-20, Saturday night at The Bren Center.
The Titans' six match winning streak over the Anteaters came to an end, dropping their first match to the South Orange County team since 2009.
The Anteaters controlled all aspects of the game, out-hitting the Titans .233 to .098, out-blocking them 9.5 to 6.0 and out serving them 7 to 1, led by Bubica who logged three aces.
Leah Best and Bre Moreland each collected eight kills with Best most efficiently logging hers, hitting .353 in 17 swings. Moreland had 11 of the Titans' 21 attack errors and hit in the red at -.081.
Defensively the Titans had four players in double-digit digs, led by Alyse Hensley with 14. Irvine's Shelly Anderson led all players with 15. At the net, Irvine's Shannon Fleming had six block assists to lead all players, while Holland Crenshaw and Hensley had four apiece to lead on the Fullerton side.
Irvine separated themselves at 12-11 in set No. 1 and never relinquished its hold on the match. The Titans stayed even through the first couple side outs in the second and third sets, but never gained enough momentum to take hold.
Julie Consani for the second straight night was in double figures in assists and digs (26assists/10 digs), making it a team-leading 7th time she has recorded a double-double this season.
The Titans will return home for a two-match home stand next weekend, and will host Cal Poly on Friday night (Oct. 25 - 7 p.m.) and UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 26 - 6 p.m.) on Saturday. The game against the Gauchos on Saturday is Titans Student T-Shirt Giveaway Night and will feature a movie on the Titan Gym video board after the match.
NOTES: The Titans have dropped six straight sets for the second time this season. The last time it happened was back-to-back losses against American and Hawai'i (Sept. 22 and 27)… Julie Consani now sits 120 assists out of the No. 6 spot in the Fullerton career record book. The junior now has 1,652 assists and trails former Titan Jenna Carney (2003-06)… Fullerton came into the week in a tie of fourth place with next weekend's opponent Cal Poly. Both squads dropped to 2-4 in conference this weekend and now share sixth place. Cal State Northridge holds firm atop the league with a 6-1 record despite dropping its Friday night match to Santa Barbara. Hawaii was idle this weekend.