FRESNO – Cal State Fullerton dropped a five-set nail-biter to Central Michigan before falling to host Fresno State in four sets  on the first day of the Bulldog Showdown Friday at the Save Mart Center in Fresno.

The Titans came one set shy of securing their first victory of the season, falling to Central Michigan 3-2 (12-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 11-15) on Friday morning at the Save Mart Center.

The Titans outhit the Chippewas .280 to .277 for the match, the first time Fullerton has done so to an opponent this season. But Central Michigan posted a .333 (11-4-21) attacking percentage in the final set and held the Titans to a .176 (7-4-17) mark to pull out the victory.

Freshmen Summer Kerins and Kyra Hill were outstanding for Fullerton offensively as they smashed down 16 kills apiece to set new career highs. Hill hit .353 (16-4-34) while Kerins attacked at a .343 (16-4-35) clip. Mackenzie Olsen dished out 39 assists and added nine digs while Paige Reed led the team with 17 digs. Sophomore Katelyn Nielsen added 12 kills to tie her career high.

After coming out sluggish and dropping the first set, 25-12, the Titans bounced back with a solid second set in which they hit .500 (15-1-28) and got five kills from Kerins without an error.

The teams split the next two sets to force a deciding fifth set. The Titans took a quick 2-0 lead there, but the Chippewas ran off five of the next six points to take a 5-3 advantage. They held onto the lead until the Titans ran off three straight points thanks to a kill from Kandace Thomas and two Central Michigan attacking errors to tie the score, 10-10.

With the set knotted at 11-11, Central Michigan ran off four straight points to secure the set and the match.

Angelique White led Central Michigan with 15 kills and Jordan Bueter added 14. Kalle Mulford had 12 kills and Kathia Sanchez dished out 42 of the team's 52 assists.

FRESNO STATE 3, CAL STATE FULLERTON 1 (Box Score)

Thomas recorded a season-high 16 kills and had a .556 (16-1-27) attacking percentage while Hill added 13 kills but it was not enough as the Titans fell to the Bulldogs 25-22, 20-25, 22-25, 21-25 in the second game of the day for the Titans.

Olsen recorded her first double-double of the season with 40 assists and 10 digs while Reed tied a season-high with 19 digs.

The Titans held the Bulldogs to a .116 (12-7-43) attacking percentage in the first set to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Fullerton jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the second set before the Bulldogs put together a 7-0 run to take the lead for good and eventually tied the match at 1-1.

Fullerton held another lead in the third but once again the Bulldogs came back to take the set and then closed out the match in the fourth set to keep the Titans in search of their first win of the season. The match featured 16 ties and seven lead changes.

Carly Scarbrough led the Bulldogs with 17 kills while Aleisha Coates added 13. Zana Bowens tallied 11 kills and Lauren Torres was the fourth Fresno State player in double figures with 10.

The Titans will close out the Bulldog Showdown Saturday night at 5 p.m. when they take on Sacramento State.