IRVINE, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton picked up their first conference victory of the season (19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 30-28) against UC Irvine on Friday night at the Bren Events Center. With the victory, the Titans move to 9-7 overall on the season and 1-4 in conference play.
Julia Crawford posted yet another fantastic game with her eighth double-double of the season recording 20 kills and 17 digs. Danielle Jeffries also recorded double-digit kills with a career-high 14 for the night on 39.3% hit percentage. Makenzi Abelman just missed out on a double-double with 40 assists and eight digs while Savahna Costello recorded a match-high 22 digs giving her over 1000 for her career.
Fullerton struggled out of the gate only recording seven kills on a 0.00% hit percentage for the first set falling to the Anteaters 25-19.
The Titans had a huge bounce back in the second set posting a red hot 35.5% hit percentage led by six kills from Crawford as they matched it up at one set a piece with a 25-17 victory.
The third set started out very back-and-forth between CSF and UCI, but Fullerton would take full control with nine straight points to pull away. The scoring run would end up leading to a big 25-18 set win for the Titans.
Needing one more set for their first conference win of the season, Fullerton battled back-and-forth with the Anteaters most of the fourth. A 5-0 scoring run down the stretch looked like it would mark a fourth set victory for UCI, but the Titans would battle back and take the set 30-28 giving them the match win.
WINNERS!!!
— Titans Volleyball (@Fullerton_WVB) October 13, 2019
It took extra points, but a 30-28 fourth set victory gives us our first conference win of the season! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/orhEIYOEgq
It marks the first conference win for Cal State Fullerton since 2017 snapping a 22-match conference losing streak.
The Titans will look to keep it rolling next weekend as they take on rival Long Beach State next Friday.
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