Nov. 9, 2010
Fullerton, Calif. - The Titans (21-5, 10-2) rose to No. 24 in the NCAA RPI this week and received the third most votes of any team outside the national Top 25 in the most current AVCA coaches poll after defeating UC Davis and Pacific last week on the road.
This week the Titans will have a heavy three-match slate beginning with a non-conference tilt with visiting San Diego State (13-13) on Tuesday night in Titan Gym. After SDSU the Titans will host UC Irvine (6-19, 2-10) on Friday and UC Riverside (2-26, 0-12) on Saturday. All three matches will begin at 7 p.m.
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Fullerton, winners of 17 of its last 19 matches, is in uncharted waters with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The team holds a one-match lead over second place Long Beach State with just four Big West Conference matches remaining. All four of the Titans' remaining league matches are against the bottom three teams in the league which have combined for a 20-61 overall record and a 6-30 mark in league play. Should they hold on and win out, or match Long Beach loss-for-loss, the Titans will make their first-ever postseason appearance on the volleyball court.
With each win the Titans continue to set new school records. The 2010 squad has won more matches overall than any other in a single season in school history and will set a new winning percentage record even if they lose the remaining five matches. With Saturday night's win over Pacific, The Titans recorded their 10th conference win, to set a new single-season school record for league victories.
The Titans swept UC Davis on friday night, logging their 16th 3-0 sweep of an opponent. Erin Saddler led the charge with her 7th double-double of the season. The senior had a match-high 12 kills and added 12 digs as the Titans won 25-22, 25-16, 25-22.
Fullerton had to play come-from-behind volleyball on Saturday after losing its first set to Pacific. The Titans have only lost in set No. 1 four times this year, and have come back to win, just twice. Saddler again led the charge with a tie for the match high in kills with 16. Senior Cami Croteau continued her assault on the Big West Conference dig record, scooping another 22 attack attempts to move to within 73 of the top spot held by former Cal Poly standout Kristin Jackson. Andrea Ragan also notched a double-double (40 assists/13 digs) in the 15-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-11 win.
Seniors Cami Croteau, Erin Saddler and Genie Francisco will all be honored before Saturday night's match with the Highlanders as they will be participating in their final home matches of their careers.
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TITANS MAKING A DIFFERENCE: The Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball team spent a Sunday on Oct. 10, teaching volleyball to youngsters participating at the OC Parks Sports Day at Craig Regional Park in Fullerton. Go check out the video of Head Coach Carolyn Zimmerman and defensive specialist Genie Francisco as they talk from the event. (http://vimeo.com/15722052)
VERSUS SAN DIEGO STATE: The Titans are just 4-31 all-time against San Diego State dating back to their first meeting in 1980. Since 2000, the Titans are 3-4 against the Aztecs with all three of their wins coming in Titan Gym and all four of their losses coming at SDSU's Cox Arena. Last year the Titans lost in San Diego 9-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-2, 12-15, in five sets.
VERSUS UC IRVINE: The Titans are 22-39 all-time against the Anteaters dating back to 1980. The Titans have dropped the last three meetings with the Anteaters, including a season series sweep in 2009.
VERSUS UC RIVERSIDE: Fullerton has an all-time record of 17-4 against UC Riverside dating back to 1974. The Titans have currently won the last 10 meetings between the two teams.
RPI: The Titans jumped six spots to No. 24 in the lastest RPI report released Monday, Nov. 9. It is the highest ranking in the history of the Titans' volleyball program. Fullerton joins Stanford (4), USC (7), Hawaii (9), Cal (11) and Long Beach State (20) as western representatives in the Top 25. The next closest Big West Conference school in the RPI is UC Santa Barbara at No. 57.
THE AVCA COACHES POLL: The Titans recorded a school record number of votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll released Nov. 9. The Titans, with 40 votes, sits just outside the Top 25 behind Long Beach State (47 votes) and Duke (55 votes). It is the fifth time this season and fourth consecutive week the Titans have been recognized. The Titans fist made an appearance in the receiving votes section last season but fell out after just one week.
HOW SWEEP IT IS: Seventeen of the Titans' 21 victories thus far have come by way of 3-0 sweeps of their opponents. The only four Fullerton wins that were not sweeps, were five set victories over Big West competitors Cal Poly (Oct. 1) and UC Davis (Oct. 9), and a four set wins over Cal Poly on Oct. 30 and Pacific (Nov.6). The Titans have been swept just once. Long Beach State downed them in three back on Sept. 25.
SETTING NEW STANDARDS: The Titans won their 21st match of the year last Saturday to continue to boost their new school record for wins in a season. The worst the Titans can do in the regular season would be 21-10, which would also give them a .677 winning percentage, also a school record. This year's team has a legitimate chance of making the postseason for the first time in school history. The Titans have a one-match lead with four conference matches to play. The Titans play their four final league contests against the bottom three teams in the league. They have already finished their season with Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbra Long Beach State, Pacific and UC Davis. Fullerton has never finished higher than fifth in the league.