LONG BEACH, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton dropped the final match of the 2014 regular season, falling to No. 16 Long Beach State 3-0 (16-25, 10-25, 13-25) in a Big West Conference tilt Saturday night at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.
The Titans (8-21, 2-14) finished the season losing their last three games and with a 1-9 record on the road while Long Beach State (26-4, 16-0) scored their 16th consecutive win and sixth straight sweep. They are the ninth team in Big West Conference history to finish conference play undefeated.
Freshman Niki Withers led the way for the Titans on offense, scoring 12 kills to go along with four digs and one assist. Mackenzie Olsen dished out 16 assists and Paige Reed led the defense with 15 digs.
Bre Mackie led the way for the 49ers with 12 kills and five blocks while hitting at a .360 clip. Alex Reid added 10 kills and eight digs and Jenelle Hudson distributed 34 assists and set the 49ers to a collective .351 hitting percentage.
The match started with some back-and-forth action with the Titans taking a 3-2 lead early. But the 49ers ran off six straight points to build a five-point lead and they never looked back to take the first set.
The second frame was very similar as the teams were tied 4-4 early on and the Titans trailed by just three at 10-7. That's when the 49ers made their push, going on a 13-1 scoring run to take a commanding lead and Mackie's kill for the 49ers closed out the set and put the Titans down by two sets.
The Titans woes continued in the third, falling behind 6-1 early and they never recovered as they suffered their 10th loss by way of sweep this year. Withers tallied five of her kills in the final set but the rest of the team combined for just four kills in the set.
Fullerton finishes the 2014 season in eighth place in the Big West Conference standings for the second consecutive season.
Notes: The match featured five ties and three lead changes… Withers finished the season with 417 kills, the first Titans player to record more than 400 kills since Kayla Neto (541) and Bre Moreland (417) did so in 2012. She also led the team with a 3.93 kills per set average… McKenna Painton led the Titans this season with 331 digs and a 3.52 digs per set average. She has now tallied 648 digs in her first two years at Fullerton… Paige Reed tallied 312 digs in 2014 and averaged 2.97 per set, both new career highs… Holland Crenshaw led the Titans this year with a .305 hitting percentage, tallying a career-high 276 kills. She committed 75 errors in 659 attempts.
