SAN LUIS OBISPO - Cal State Fullerton fell to second-place Cal Poly 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-21) in a Big West Conference tilt Friday night at the Mott Athletic Center.
The Titans (0-17, 0-5) managed just 22 kills as a team against the Mustangs (13-4, 5-1) and were held to a .065 hitting percentage.
The Titans got a team-high eight kills from freshman Summer Kerins. Kyra Hill added five kills and Kyra Smith had four. Fullerton did tally 14 blocks against the Mustangs, seven coming from freshman Megann Delgado to set a new career high. Kandace Thomas added four swats and Smith had three. Paige Reed led the team with 12 digs.
For the Mustangs, Taylor Gruenwald led the way with 13 kills, attacking at a .333 (13-3-30) clip. Reigning Big West Conference Freshman Player of the Week Adlee Van Winden added 10 kills for Cal Poly and Raeann Greisen had seven kills on 14 attempts without an error. Taylor Nelson dished out 33 assists as she set the Mustangs to a .250 (44-16-112) percentage. Katherine Brouker led the defense with 13 digs and Nicole Kessler had 12 digs.
The Titans never led in the opening set but did tie the score at 5-5. But the Mustangs closed out the set on a 20-6 scoring run to take the early lead. In the second, the Titans held the early and the teams would trade the lead three times until the score was tied 15-15. That's when the Mustangs put together a 10-0 scoring run to clinch the set and take a 2-0 lead, eventually closing out the match with a wire-to-wire finish in the third frame.
Fullerton will wrap up its three-game road swing with a match against UC Santa Barbara Saturday night at 7 p.m. from the Thunderdome. The Gauchos recorded their first victory in conference play Friday night against UC Riverside.
