Oct. 19, 2007

Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. - Junior right-side hitter Brittany Moore struck a match-high 21 kills while teammate Erin Saddler posted 11 blocks to lead Cal State Fullerton to a 27-30, 30-25, 30-18, 17-30, 15-9 marathon victory over UC Davis in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Pavilion Friday evening.

The Aggies slip to 3-18 overall and remain winless at 0-9 in conference play. The Titans move to 10-9 for the year, 5-3 in Big West matches.

Sophomore Avreeta Singh picked up a match-best 29 digs with two aces for UC Davis, while freshman Kayla Varney had 16 kills and 22 digs. Sophomore Britt Erickson was particularly effective offensively, recording 10 kills in 29 attempts. As a team, the Aggies collected 102 digs, 32 of which came in their Game 4 victory.

For Fullerton, sophomore Alex Wolnisty employed her 6-foot-5 frame to a .464 hitting average while contributing three block assists. Freshman Sarah Day matched Saddler's total with 11 blocks. In all, Fullerton had 19.5 team stuffs while tallying 86 digs.

The two teams battled to an even matchup for the early going of Game 1 before kills by Renee Ibekwe, Varney and Tori Hooper helped crack a 21-21 tie and put the Aggies up, 26-23. A Moore kill and the fourth combined block by Saddler and Day helped re-tie the game at 27-27. But UC Davis shut the door after that point. Erin Turner's hard rocket forced the scrambling Titans to commit a key hitting error, then Ibekwe scored the game-winner.

In Game 2, Fullerton ran off two crucial stretches of unanswered points to post a comeback win. Saddler knocked down her seventh and eighth blocks of the match during a 6-0 run that gave the Titans a 17-14 lead. Then, after back-to-back Varney kills put UC Davis back into the lead, the Aggies suffered through three straight miscues in a 5-0 Titan run that put the guests back to a 25-23 edge. Libero Cami Croteau served strong down the final stretch as Fullerton scored four straight to win the game and equalize the match.

The Titans dominated Game 3, mostly with their net defense. Day had all three of her solo blocks in the third as UC Davis hit minus-.038 with 12 errors on 52 swings. Fullerton took at 16-11 lead midway through the action, then later enjoyed a 6-1 to run to pull away to a 28-17 edge. Moore and Jennifer Francisco subsequently finished off the win with back-to-back kills.

In contrast to the third frame, UC Davis assumed the reins in Game 4. Erickson had seven kills with no errors in the fourth, including two in the Aggies' 10-2 start. Varney posted four kills, tooling the Titan block for the last two points of the game. Singh registered 13 of her 29 digs in the fourth, while Varney added eight.

However, Fullerton recovered in the fifth game. The Titans' serving game, which had betrayed them for 14 errors overall, posted two aces and forced a free-ball opportunity in a 7-3 start to the rubber game. Singh served up an ace of her own to help cut the lead to 7-5, but the Titans scored four of the next five to take an 11-6 lead. Moore scored the last two points of the match to seal the win for CSF.

Friday's loss marks the fifth time in as many chances that UC Davis has lost a five-game match this season. The Titans have played six such matches in 2007. The win over the Aggies is the third marathon victory in a span of four dates.

The Aggies return to action on October 26 for a Big West match at UC Santa Barbara.