FULLERTON, Calif. — Lyla Traylor posted a match-best 17 kills to lead Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball to a four-set win over CSU Bakersfield Saturday evening at Titan Gym.
Traylor's 17 kills matched her career-high, as the outside hitter also tallied 10 digs, a pair of aces and a dig on the match. Danielle Jefferies and Bianca Martinez both had eight kills, while Naia Stewart added a career-high seven. Kyahana Robinson recorded three kills to go along with a career-high five aces and three digs.
Elizabeth Schuster notched 33 assists to go with 10 digs and four kills. Dominique Velarde and Nadia Koanui both tallied eight digs and three aces for the Titans.
As a team, the Titans recorded a season-high 15 aces, including five in the first set alone. The win improves Cal State Fullerton's record to 12-8 on the season and 6-6 in Big West play.
CSU Bakersfield got out to a quick 7-1 to start things off in the first set, forcing a Titan timeout. The Titans responded with an 8-1 run of their own to take a 9-8 advantage, highlighted by kills from Jefferies, Schuster and Stewart. Teams then traded points back and forth before a 4-0 Titan run put Cal State Fullerton up 18-16. The Titans finished the set off strong, as kills by Schuster and Traylor and a Robinson ace gave Cal State Fullerton the 25-21 set one win.
S1 | The Titans take the first set, 25-21, on this @KyahanaR ACE ��#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/9t7X0u1xXG
— Titans Volleyball (@Fullerton_WVB) October 30, 2022
The Titans started the second period on a 10-4 run, highlighted by kills from Jefferies and Stewart and an ace from Velarde. The Roadrunners responded on a 5-0 run to cut their deficit to one, 10-9, but the Titans answered with a 5-0 run of their own to go up 15-9. CSU Bakersfield hung around, using an 11-5 run to tie things up at 20. The Titans finished strong, however, as back-to-back aces by Robinson sealed the 25-20 win in set two.
S2 | Yet. Another Ace. @KyahanaR
— Titans Volleyball (@Fullerton_WVB) October 30, 2022
The Titans come away with the set two win, 25-20!!#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/nxOdXlRHhF
Things remained close early in the third period, as a kill by Martinez followed by a block by Traylor and Martinez brought the score to 9-8 for CSU Bakersfield. The Titans took the lead on a Schuster dump kill and extended it to three, 17-14, following a McClure ace. Cal State Fullerton seemed poised to take the third set, leading 21-19 following a Martinez kill, but the Roadrunners scored six straight to win 25-21.
The fourth set started off back and forth, with a Robinson kill bringing the Titans within two, 9-7. Kills by Traylor and Martinez capped a 4-0 Titan run to tie the set at 11. Things remained close, as a Traylor ace and a Martinez kill kept things tied at 17. The Titans then used a 5-2 run to go up 22-19, but the Roadrunners scored four of the next five points to tie things up again at 23. With the set then tied at 24, Traylor knocked down back-to-back kills to give the Titans the 26-24 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
S4 | POINT. SET. MATCH.
— Titans Volleyball (@Fullerton_WVB) October 30, 2022
Who else to finish this one out but @lyla_traylor ��#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/D5VwHGbOyE
The Titans return to action Tuesday, November 1st, at Long Beach State. First serve is slated for 7:00 p.m. PT.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
FOLLOW THE TITANS
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the volleyball team has established its own Twitter (@Fullerton_WVB) and Instagram accounts (Fullerton_WVB).