FULLERTON, Calif. — The Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball team fell in four sets Saturday night to UC San Diego at Titan Gym.
Lyla Traylor had a team-high 13 kills to lead the Titans to go with six digs and a pair of blocks. Danielle Jefferies followed with 11 kills on a .269 clip, also adding two blocks, an ace and a dig. Bianca Martinez had six kills and a team-high four blocks while Liz Schuster dished out 32 assists to go with four kills on a .800 clip. Nadia Koanui notched a team-best 10 digs for the Titans.
As a team, Fullerton tallied a .159 hitting percentage to UC San Diego's .331. After dropping the first set, the Titans won set two to tie the match but fell in each of the following two. The loss moves Fullerton to 12-14 on the season and 6-12 in Big West play.
UC San Diego got off to a hot start in the first set, taking a 10-1 lead before kills from Traylor and Martinez brought the score to 11-3 for the Tritons. UC San Diego then used a 6-1 run to go up 17-4. Kills from Martinez and Traylor narrowed the Titans' deficit to 11, 20-9, but the Tritons went on to take set one, 25-12.
The Tritons got out to a 7-3 lead to start set two, but Fullerton responded with a 7-2 run to take a 10-9 lead following a Traylor kill and Jefferies ace. The Titans later extended their lead to three, 18-15, with kills by Jefferies and Traylor. UC San Diego fought back to within one, 22-21, but Fullerton scored three of the next four to take the set, 25-22.
S2 | This serve ��#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/gzqeWLeDA0
— Titans Volleyball (@Fullerton_WVB) November 20, 2022
A service ace by Koanui capped a 5-1 Titan run to start set three, before four straight points from the Tritons tied things up at five. UC San Diego then used a 9-3 run to go up 14-8. The Titans hung around, as a kill by Traylor narrowed their deficit to three, 15-12. An ace from McClure followed by a Triton attack error later brought the score to 21-17 for UC San Diego. The Tritons scored four of the next six points, taking set three, 25-19.
UC San Diego jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the fourth before a block by Kyahana Robinson and Martinez brought the Titans within three, 11-8. But the Tritons responded with a 6-1 run to then go up 17-9. The Titans scored three straight, highlighted by kills from Martinez and Jefferies, but UC San Diego responded with a 3-0 run of their own to go up 20-12. Jefferies tallied two more kills in the set but the Tritons went on to seal the game, 25-14, to win the match.
S4 | @bianca_belizia and Robinson send it back with authority ��#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/5QEeiHjQjm
— Titans Volleyball (@Fullerton_WVB) November 20, 2022
The Titans remain at home next weekend for their final two games of the 2022 campaign. Fullerton will first take on UC Riverside on Friday, November 25th, at 5:00 p.m. PT.
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