Oct. 30, 2010
Fullerton, Calif. - Fifteen kills and six blocks from junior Leah Maurer powered Cal State Fullerton to a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20) victory over visiting Cal Poly Saturday night in Titan Gym.
The Titans improve to 19-5 overall and 8-2 in the Big West, giving them sole possession of first place. The team's 19th victory of the season set a new school record for most wins in a season and also boosted their school record to 13-1 in Titan Gym. The Titans are winners of 15 of their last 17 matches.
The loss for Cal Poly dropped them into third place in league, a loss behind second place Long Beach State. The Mustangs are now 18-7, 8-4.
Long Beach took care of UC Santa Barbara in 3 sets, and Cal State Northridge upset UC Davis in 5. The league leaders after this weekend's action are now: Fullerton (8-2, .800), Long Beach (7-3, .700), Cal Poly (8-4, .667) and UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis and Pacific (7-4, .636).
Saturday night's match was a battle point runs by each team. All four sets were close most of the way with each team providing surges of points.
Maurer was a force in the middle hitting .363 on the night, helping to lift the Titans' overall attack percentage to .225. Erin Saddler also provided 15 kills in support of Maurer. Saddler also provided an ace and 7 digs to the mix.
Setter Andrea Ragan had a double-double for the Titans with 44 assists and 22 digs. She was one of three Titans with 16-or-more scoops on the night. Genie Francisco had 16 and Cami Croteau picked up 20 Mustang attack attempts.
The Mustangs were led by Catie Smith offensively. She notched 16 kills on the night and was flanked by Kristina Graven (14 kills) and Jennifer Keddy (12 kills). The Mustangs hit just .149 on the night.
Alison Mort scooped up a match-high 30 digs for the visitors. She was one of four Mustangs in double digits.
At the net, Fullerton out-stuffed Cal Poly 11.0 to 7.0. Maurer (CSF) and Keddy (CP) each had a match-high six blocks, though four of Keddy's were of the solo variety. Fullerton's Jennifer Edmond also had five block assists, tying her career high.
The Titans now hit the road for matches with UC Davis (Nov. 5) and Pacific (Nov. 6) before returning home for a non-conference tilt with San Diego State on Nov. 9.