Sept. 23, 2005
Fullerton, Calif. - Sarah Morrison pounded out 18 kills as Cal State Fullerton picked up their first conference-opening victory in school's history with a sweep of Pacific 3-0 (30-25, 30-27, 30-22) in the 2005 Big West volleyball opener Friday night at Titan Gym. The Titans improve to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while the Tigers fall to 5-7 (0-1).
In their best played game of the season, the Titans out-hit the Tigers .269 to .181 on the night with a match best .357 in game two. Fullerton picked up just their second win all-time against the Tigers improving to 2-41, extending to a modest two-game winning streak. In game two, the Titans jumped out to an 8-0 lead, before the Tigers narrowed the lead to 12-9. The Titans retaliated by scoring 11 straight points behind the serving of Danielle Hitzeman to secure a game two victory.
Morrison, who scored 18 total points, led the Titans in kills with fellow senior Alyssa Opeka in tow with 11. Pacific's Ashley Groothuis led all players with 19 tallying 20 points, leading all players.
Vanessa Vella continued her digging terror, collecting 26 more digs (279 total) to extend her Big West Conference lead.
The Titans will host Cal State Northridge Saturday night at 7 p.m. in another conference match-up. The Matadores, going into Friday's games are 3-7 overall and 1-0 in conference. Fullerton is currently 6-1 at home this season and has improved to 19-5 at home over the past two seasons.