Complete Release (PDF)
THE WEEK AHEAD: The Titans (11-16, 4-11) will close the season playing host to the nation's No. 12-ranked Rainbow Wahine from Hawai'i (22-4, 11-3) in Titan Gym on Saturday night. The match will begin at 7 p.m. following brief senior ceremonies that will honor six graduating players and the student-athletic trainer.
In unfamiliar territory, the University of Hawai'i finds itself in third place in the Big West Conference. In order to clinch at least a share of the Big West title, the Rainbow Wahine need to win their final two contests and hope that UC Santa Barbara falters in one of its final two contests. If they are unsuccessful, this will mark the first time Hawai'i does not win its respective conference title since 1994 when it finished second in the Big West with a 15-3 record. (Hawai'i was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1996-2011 and won the championship in each of those 16 years.)
SATURDAY, NOV. 30 in Titan Gym, 7 p.m.
No. 12 Hawai'i (22-4, 11-3) vs. Cal State Fullerton (11-14, 4-11)
Series Record: Hawai'i has won all 30 matches the teams have played.
Big West Record: The Titans are 0-19 vs. Hawai'i in Big West play.
First Meeting: Lost, Nov. 5, 1982, 0-2 at a neutral site
Last Meeting: Lost, Sept. 27, 2013, 0-3 at Hawai'i
Current Streak: Lost 30
Last 10 Meetings: 0-10
LAST WEEKEND: Bre Moreland and Alyse Hensley each contributed 19 kills in the win over Cal Poly on Saturday. Moreland hit for a .400 efficiency, while Hensley's .415 average was her best in Big West play and ranks among the top-3 efficiency nights in her career as a Titan. Julie Consani posted a double double in the effort as the junior setter dished out 49 assists and led the team in digs with 14. She also served up three aces to lead the team from the service line.
The Titans continue to rank fourth in the nation in digs per set with a 17.78 average.
FOLLOW THE TITANS: Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF.Athletics), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and YouTube.com (YouTube.com/csfathletics).
In addition, the volleyball team has established its own official Twitter page (@FullertonVB).
TICKETS FOR UPCOMING HOME EVENTS: Tickets can be purchased online at fullertontitans.com, or at the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office, located in the Titan House on campus off of Gymnasium Drive on the northeast side of Titan Gym. Game day sales and will call tickets will open an hour prior to the scheduled time at the specific venue.
THE SENIOR CLASS:
1 - Leah Stevens, season best 7 kills, 5 block assists, 11/2/13
3 - Leah Best, career high 18 kills, 10/11/12, season best .429, 11/22/13
7 - Abbie Miraldi, career high 18 digs, 11/16/13
8 - Kristen Brandsma, career high hitting: 1.000, 9/13/13 (graduating early)
16 - Alyse Hensley, career high 22 kills, 10/25/13, 32 digs, 10/4/13
22 - Bre Moreland, career high 24 kills, 11/16/12
Micah Ohlen - Athletic Training Student
MORE ABOUT HAWAI'I:
Statistically Speaking: The Rainbow Wahine are ranked in the nation's top 25 in three categories. Hitting .279 on the season places them 12th, while their 14.38 kills per set average ranks them 16th. They also sit 20th in assists with a 13.37 average.
Freshman Nikki Taylor earned the fifth weekly award as the conference's best player over the weekend, her first such honor.
BIG WEST CONFERENCE TIDBIT
• Only Hawai'i is ranked this week (No. 12) but, importantly, both UCSB and Cal State Northridge are receiving votes in the top-30 poll. The Big West will learn via ESPNU at 6:30 p.m. (Pacific) on Sunday, Dec. 1, who besides the automatic qualifier may make the tournament.
TITAN TIDBITS:
• Bre Moreland is in the middle of the career record books in all-time kills and digs. Prior to this evening's match, her 1,082 digs has her in 7th place, all-time, and she is 8th all time in kills with 986.
• Fullerton's 17.78 digs per sets ranks them first in the Big West and the team now ranks third in kills per set. The 17.78 digs ranks fourth nationally.
• Julie Consani led the Big West in assists per set throughout the season with an 11.04 average heading into tonight's match with Hawai'i.
• McKenna Painton's 4.59 digs per set leads the Big West.
• The Titans have actually scored more points this season than their opponents, proving the old addage that timing is everything.
• McKenna Painton recorded her eighth 20-plus dig match of the season last Saturday against UC Davis. She leads the Big West by nearly a half a dig per set at 4.59 and has the second-most total digs in the league (317). Bre Moreland (3.59 dps) ranks No. 8 in the league. Alyse Hensley's No. 5 ranking in kills per set (3.09) is just ahead of Moreland's 3.03 clip which is good for the No. 7 spot in the Big West
• With 1,082 assists now in 2013, junior setter Julie Consani (total of 2,040 in her career thus far) has passed Jenna Carney (2003-06) for sixth on the Titan career Top 10. Next up for Consani is No. 5 Melissa Blackler (1995-97) at 2,360. Consani currently leads the Big West, with 11.04 assists per set (34th in the NCAA).
• Sophomore Holland Crenshaw is the only Titan represented in the Big West's Top 10 in hitting percentage (10th). The 6-foot-3 middle blocker / right-side hitter has posted a .286 average thus far.
• Seniors Bre Moreland and Alyse Hensley are both now in the top 10 in kills per set in the Big West, Moreland at No. 4 with a 3.14 average and Hensley at the No. 6 spot. She is averaging 3.13 blasts per set.
• In the absense last weekend of McKenna Painton (day to day), Paige Reed and Abbie Miraldi each contributed significantly to the team's defensive efforts. Reed was the libero and Miraldi filled Reed's usual defensive specialist role with Reed scooping up 23 digs last weekend and Miraldi tallying 11.
AWARD SEASON: Senior transfer Alyse Hensley followed up an all-tournament performance at the UNLV Invitational with an MVP effort at the Fullerton Classic. Hensley was named MVP of the tournament after averaging 3.14 kills per set and attacking at a rate of .337. She added a team-leading eight service aces along with 34 digs and nine blocks while totaling back-to-back double-doubles. McKenna Painton was also named to the all-tournament team after averaging 4.31 digs per set and five aces.
At Texas Tech, Bre Moreland was named to the Lone Star Showdown all-tournament team after averaging 3.22 kills and 4.78 digs per set. In addition Paige Reed earned all-tournament honors in Lubbock, Texas, after averaging 4.67 digs per set in the tourney.
2013 BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL: For the second straight year, the University of Hawai'i has been selected as the Big West Conference's top pick in the women's volleyball preseason poll, as selected by the nine league coaches. The Rainbow Wahine were a unanimous favorite, collecting all nine first-place votes en route to an 81-point total. Cal State Fullerton finished in seventh place with 35 points.
CAROLYN ZIMMERMAN: Toward the conclusion of her 12th season at Cal State Fullerton, Carolyn Zimmerman possesses an all-time record of 173-185 (.483). The sixth head coach in Fullerton's 37-year history, she is the winningest head coach in CSF volleyball program history, by a considerable margin.