THE WEEK AHEAD:
The Titans play their second consecutive road game as they travel to UC Irvine to take on a hot Anteaters team, winners of four in a row. It will be the 67th all-time meeting between the teams.
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: Streaming video for Fullerton's match against UC Irvine will be available. Links can be found at FullertonTitans.com.
Audio Webcast: None
Live Stats: Live in-game stats will be available for the Titans match against the Anteaters. Links can be found at 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. All Cal State Fullerton students with a school ID get free admission.
PROMOTIONS:
The Titans will hold the second and final autograph session of the season following the Nov. 15 match against UC Riverside at Titan Gym.
FRIDAY, OCT. 24 VS. UC IRVINE (BREN CENTER), 7 P.M.
Cal State Fullerton (7-13, 1-6) vs. UC Irvine (14-7, 4-3)
Series Record: UC Irvine leads 37-29
Big West Record: UC Irvine leads 29-23
First Meeting: Won, Oct. 22, 1980; 15-8, 15-6, 15-10
Last Meeting: Lost, Nov. 15, 2013; 24-26, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 10-15
Current Streak: Lost 2
Last 10 Meetings: 6-4
UC IRVINE NOTES:
•The Anteaters come into Friday night's match riding a four-match winning streak and will be looking to set a new season-best five-game winning streak with a victory over the Titans.
•Along with the four-game winning streak, the Anteaters are also riding a three-match sweep streak and have won 10 straight sets.
•UC Irvine's 14 victories has already matched its win total from 2013 and is the second-highest number of wins in head coach Paula Weishoff's tenure. Weishoff led the Anteaters to 22 victories in 2009.
•UC Irvine tops the Big West Conference in hitting (.256), kills per set (14.22), assists (13.22) and digs (16.41). They are also third in aces per set (1.41) and opponent hitting percentage (.195).
•The Anteaters are currently tied for fifth place with a 4-3 conference record along with UC Santa Barbara, a team UCI defeated in five sets at the start of the current four-match winning streak.
•Shelley Anderson is the top setter in the Big West Conference, averaging 11.21 assists per set. She recorded a combined 78 assists in the two matches last week and is ranked 20th in the nation in assist average and is 69th in the country in total assists.
FULLERTON'S HISTORY FACING THE ANTEATERS:
Prior to the 2013 season, the Titans had won six consecutive meetings between the teams, but recorded just one sweep in the process. The Anteaters swept the season series last year, sweeping the Titans at the Bren Center in the first meeting followed by a five-set victory at Fullerton, marking the Anteaters first victory at Titan Gym since 2009. Overall, the Titans are 10-23 on the road against the Anteaters, the last victory coming in four sets at the Bren Center in 2012.
LOSING STREAK SNAPPED:
Cal State Fullerton snapped a seven-game losing streak Saturday night as they defeated UC Riverside on the road 3-1 (25-20, 29-27, 23-25, 25-22). The Titans put a halt to the program's longest losing streak since 2003 thanks to a .331 hitting percentage, which was the second best mark in a match for the Titans this season. They hit .337 in a sweep of Brown on Sept. 6. The Titans had three players record double-digit kills and were led defensively by Paige Reed with 17 digs and freshman Stephanie Buss' seven blocks.
DOUBLE TROUBLE:
In Friday night's five-set loss to UC Davis, McKenna Painton and Mackenzie Olsen each recorded a double-double for the Titans for the second consecutive week, marking the third time this season that a pair of Titans recorded a double-double in the same match. Olsen dished out 54 assists to go along with 13 digs, both new season highs for the setter. Painton tallied a career-high 19 kills and had 10 digs for her third straight double-double.
PAINTON ON A ROLL:
In four matches as an outside hitter, sophomore McKenna Painton has tallied four straight double-doubles and recorded 15-plus kills in three of those matches. She hammered down 18 kills with 11 digs in Saturday night's win over UC Riverside while posting a career-best .325 (18-5-40). During the four-match stretch, Painton is averaging 3.88 kills and 2.76 digs per set.
RETURN OF THE MACK
Setter Mackenzie Olsen has done a stellar job distributing the ball for the Titans in the last four matches. The junior has recorded 40-plus assists in four straight matches including a season-high 54 assists in Friday night's five-set loss to UC Davis. During the four match stretch, Olsen has tallied 187 assists and averaged 11.00 assists per set. She's also recorded two double-doubles in the last four matches and is averaging 1.94 digs per set, tallying 33 in 17 sets played.
REED THE LIBERO
Since Painton's move into the offensive rotation, sophomore Paige Reed has assumed the libero spot for the majority of the 17 sets played in the last four matches. The Vallejo, Calif. native has tallied a team-best 52 digs and averaged 3.06 digs per set. Last week, Reed set a new season-high with 17 digs against UC Davis and followed that up with another 17-dig performance in the team's four-set victory at UC Riverside.
HAIL TO THE BUSS DRIVER:
Freshman Stephanie Buss had a solid week for the Titans, beginning with an excellent offensive effort against UC Davis on Friday night. Buss was one of four Titans to record double-digit kills in the five-set match, blasting down 12 kills with just three errors in 17 attempts. Her .529 hitting percentage led the team and was also her second best mark of the season. Her 12 kills were also her third highest total in a match this season. In Saturday night's victory over UC Riverside, Buss protected the net with seven block assists to lead the team. In her last four matches, Buss has tallied 20 blocks (three solo) including a career-high eight (one solo) against Cal Poly on Oct. 10. During that stretch, Buss is averaging 1.18 blocks per set and she leads the team this season with 67 blocks.
DIG!
The Titans currently rank third in the conference with 1,058 total digs. McKenna Painton leads the squad with 277 and a 3.69 per set average with Paige Reed in second place with 162 digs and a 2.19 per set average. Mackenzie Olsen ranks third on the team with 122 digs while Rachel Brown is fourth with 118 digs. Senior Devin Ulmer has tallied 96 digs this season but is averaging 1.71 digs per set, which ranks third on the team amongst players that have played 50 sets or more this season. She set a new career-high with 15 digs on Oct. 11 against UC Santa Barbara at Titan Gym and followed that up with a 13 dig-performance against UC Davis.
BIG WEST MARKS
The Titans have a couple of players near the top of the conference rankings:
• Freshman Niki Withers is currently ranked third in the conference with a 3.60 kills per set average, which also ranks 90th in the nation. She also ranks third in the Big West with 270 total kills.
• Mackenzie Olsen has dished out 9.80 assists per set this season for the Titans, which ranks fifth in the Big West. Her 725 total assists have her ranked third in the Big West.
CAROLYN ZIMMERMAN:
In her 13th season at Cal State Fullerton, Carolyn Zimmerman currently possesses an all-time record of 180-199 (.475). The sixth head coach in Fullerton's 37-year history; she is the winningest (.475) head coach in CSF volleyball program history.