FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton hits the road for the first time this season as they head to San Diego for the SDSU – USD Classic.
SDSU - USD CLASSIC:
The Titans will travel to San Diego this weekend and make a couple of stops for the SDSU - USD Classic. Fullerton will start with a trip to the University of San Diego on Friday to take on Northwestern at the Jenny Craig Pavilion at 4:30 p.m. The Titans close out the weekend at San Diego State when they take on Villanova and Brown on Saturday at Aztec Court and then conclude the weekend Sunday when they play the co-host Aztecs at 1 p.m.
FOLLOW THE TITANS:
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans), Instagram (@FullertonTitans), and YouTube.com (YouTube.com/csfathletics). In addition, the volleyball team has established its own official Twitter page (@FullertonVB).
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Television: None
Streaming Video: Both of the Titans matches on Saturday and their Sunday matchup with San Diego State will have a live video feed, available at www.FullertonTitans.com.
Audio Webcast: None
Live Stats: Live in-game stats for all four matches this weekend are available at www.FullertonTitans.com
TICKETS:
Tickets for all Titans home games 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.
SDSU - USD CLASSIC: AN INSIDE LOOK
Northwestern enters the weekend after sweeping their three matches at the Northern Illinois Invitational to claim the tournament title. It was the Wildcats first non-conference tournament win since capturing the Yale Invitational crown in 2012. Senior outside hitter Yewande Akanbi was named the tournament MVP after averaging 3.82 kills per set while hitting at a .369 clip in three matches. This will be the first ever meeting between the Titans and Wildcats.
Villanova swept three matches at the James Madison Invitational to start the 2014 season undefeated. The Wildcats got a tournament-MVP performance from junior outside hitter Lauren Carpenter while junior Emma Pettit and sophomore Michaela Berendt each earned all-tournament honors. The Titans defeated Villanova in their first and only meeting back in 2006, when Fullerton took a five-set thriller to open the season at the Long Beach State Tournament.
Brown will get in their first action of the 2014 regular season when they head down to the SDSU - USD Classic. The Bears are led by team captains Kathryn Conner and Maddie Lord, the team's top returning libero and attacker respectively. Conner led the team with a 3.68 digs per set average in 2013 while Lord finished 10th in the Ivy League with a 2.69 kills per set average. The Titans defeated Brown in their only other meeting in 2012 when Fullerton scored a sweep at the Fullerton Classic.
San Diego State opened the 2014 season by running through a gauntlet at the Chevron Wahine Rainbow Invitational hosted by then No. 17 Hawai'i. The Aztecs dropped the opener to No. 25 Arizona State in three sets and lost a pair of four-set matches to Ohio and the Rainbow Wahine. The Aztecs were picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Conference in the preseason coaches' poll. Overall, the Titans will meet the Aztecs for the 39th time. They hold a 5-33 record against San Diego State and have lost the last two meetings between the teams.
RECAP OF THE TITAN CLASSIC
The Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball team finished second at the Titan Classic this past weekend, dropping the title match to Texas Tech in three sets. In the three matches, Fullerton tallied 144 kills and a 14.40 kills per set average compared to 11.00 kills per set for their opponents. The Titans tallied 13 aces in three matches and were all over the court on the defensive end, recording 176 digs including 89 in their opening night victory over Bucknell. Sophomore McKenna Painton had her second career 30-dig performance in the win over Bucknell, helping the Bakersfield, Calif. native earn an all-tournament selection.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Niki Withers and McKenna Painton were named the Big West Freshman Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week respectively, the conference announced Monday.
Withers made a splash in her Fullerton-debut, smashing down 20 kills in the Titans victory over Bucknell on Friday night at Titan Gym. She recorded double-digit kills in all three matches on the weekend. Overall, Withers led the Titan Classic with a 4.30 kills per set average, drilling 43 kills in 10 sets played to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
On the defensive end, Painton continued where she left off in 2013. The sophomore out of Bakersfield, Calif. was all over the court at the Titan Classic, averaging a tournament-best 5.60 digs per set. She started the weekend off by recording 30 digs in the Titans win over Bucknell, a match that saw the Titans record 89 digs as a team.
Painton recorded 56 digs overall for the Titans in three matches to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Last season, Painton averaged 4.59 digs per set to lead the team despite playing only 69 sets. The mark ranked as the sixth best single season mark in Titans history.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Freshmen Megan Kurz and Katie Roux also had excellent debuts for the Titans as the two newcomers each recorded a double double on Friday night against Bucknell. Kurz was one of three players who tallied double-digit kills for the Titans on opening night, smashing down 15 in 44 attempts. Kurz also pitched in on defense, recording 17 digs on a night the Titans defense accumulated 89 digs as a squad. As for Roux, the freshman added 14 digs of her own and then ran the offense in the second half of the match, dishing out 22 assists in the process. It was the first time two Fullerton players had a double double in the same match since Nov. 15, 2013.
SETTING THE TABLE
In her Titans debut, junior Mackenzie Olsen did an excellent job running the Fullerton offense. Olsen dished out 91 assists in three matches, including 35 on opening night against Bucknell. Olsen averaged 10.11 assists per set for the Titans in the three matches. The Orange, Calif. native also pitched in defensively with seven total blocks and 12 digs and also recorded nine kills with a .364 hitting percentage.
HOLLAND'S OPUS
Junior middle blocker Holland Crenshaw had a stellar weekend for Fullerton at the Titan Classic. The Santa Barbara, Calif. native was tied for second on the team with 27 kills in three matches and led the team with a .318 hitting percentage for all players with at least 10 kills. Crenshaw averaged 2.70 kills per set for the Titans and set a career high with 17 kills on opening night against Bucknell while boasting a .368 hitting percentage. Crenshaw also set a career high with 20.5 points and is currently ranked second on the team with eight total blocks.
MAKING AN IMPRESSION
The Cal State Fullerton volleyball team had nine newcomers making their debut at the Titan Classic including five freshmen. Many of them made a good first impression, capped off by Big West Freshman Player of the Week Niki Withers.
• Niki Withers led the team with 43 kills and had a tournament-best 4.30 kills per set average at the Titan Classic. The Lakewood, Calif. native smashed down 20 kills in her debut against Bucknell and recorded double-digit kills in all three matches.
• Freshman Katelyn Nielsen had a solid debut for the Titans with seven kills and a .312 hitting percentage against Bucknell. She capped off the weekend by recording 10 kills in the title game against Texas Tech, leading the team with 29 attempts.
• Middle blocker and freshman Stephanie Buss had a great weekend at the net for the Titans. The Sioux Falls, S.D. native led the Titans with 14 total blocks (1 solo) and a 1.40 blocks per set average. Her weekend was highlighted by an eight-block performance in the Titans sweep of Sacred Heart on Saturday. Her seven block assists were two shy of the Cal State Fullerton top-10 for most block assists in a single match.
• Katie Roux had a double double in her Titans debut and finished the weekend with 22 assists and 29 digs, recording a 2.90 digs per set average for Fullerton.
VOLLEYBALL PROMOTION NIGHTS:
There will be five promotion nights during the 2014 season. The Titans will have an autograph night following their Big West Conference opener against CSUN on Sept. 26. The next night, Fullerton hosts Long Beach State on #WearYourColors T-Shirt Giveaway night. Other nights include a Titans Keychain Giveaway (Oct. 10), Rally Buff Giveaway (Oct. 17) and a second autograph night on Nov. 15 against UC Riverside.
TITANS ON ESPN3:
The Titans will lead off the television schedule as their Big West Conference opener will be broadcast on ESPN3 when they welcome defending conference tri-champion CSUN to Titan Gym on Sept. 26. The Titans will wrap up their televised schedule on the volleyball court when they host Hawai'i, which was also crowned as a Big West Conference tri-champion in 2013.
CAROLYN ZIMMERMAN: Entering her 13th season at Cal State Fullerton, Carolyn Zimmerman possesses an all-time record of 173-186 (.481). The sixth head coach in Fullerton's 37-year history, she is the winningest (.481) head coach in CSF volleyball program history.
WELCOME BACK
Cal State Fullerton brings back two starters from last year's team in middle blocker Holland Crenshaw and libero McKenna Painton. Other key returners include Paige Reed, Devin Ulmer, Shannon Bell and Delaney Gurol
Crenshaw led the team as a sophomore with 79 total blocks and 71 block assists. She was also third on the team with 219 kills and a 2.19 kills per set average. Painton played in just 19 matches due to injury in 2013 but still recorded 317 digs to finish second on the team. Her 4.59 digs per set average ranks as the sixth best single-season mark in Titans history. Reed played in all 28 matches for the Titans in 2013 as a freshman and finished third on the squad with 294 digs, including posting a season-high 22 digs at UC Davis on Nov. 2.