Giants rally to defeat Americans in home opener
Fullerton, California – Cal State Fullerton women’s volleyball came back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat America in five sets (13-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-12) on Friday in its home opener at Titan Gym. The win improves the Giants’ record to 1-6 on the season.
“We’ve been working hard the last two weekends and I keep telling the team this prepares us,” Fullerton coach Nicole Vargas-Bolster said. “Seeing that work come to fruition tonight was really cool.”
Amina Campbell led the Titans with a game-high 18 kills and 19 digs for her third double-double of the season. Aubrey Beaver followed with 11 kills and five digs, while Bianca Martinez had 10 kills with a .286 clip and three blocks. Layla Traylor had 10 kills and 10 digs before leaving the match due to injury in the third set.
Ryleigh Garis matched a career-high with 52 assists while adding nine digs and four blocks. Ashley Chacon contributed 17 digs and three assists in the win. As a team, the Giants had a season-high 59 kills for a .186 percentage to the Americans’ 54. Fullerton also recorded 57 assists, compared to 48 for the Americans, and 77 assists, compared to 71 for the Eagles.
The Giants started the game by scoring the first point of the contest. However, the Americans came back to heat, using an 8-0 run to take a 19-9 lead. The Giants did their best to fight back, as Martinez posted a .667 hitting percentage in the first set. Traylor recorded three kills and Chacon had a team-high six digs. In the end, the Titans posted a .167 hitting percentage compared to the Americans’ .406, as the Eagles outscored the Titans 25-12 in the first set of the match.
In a game that started back and forth between the Giants and Eagles, the Titans ended up falling 25-16 in the second set. Beaver scored the Titans’ first point with a kill to lead things off. Campbell recorded an impressive set of six kills to put the Giants ahead, 10-7. After America took a 16-2 lead, Martinez responded with a kill with Traylor. However, it wasn’t enough to win the set, as the Eagles ran out on a 25-16 run to take a 2-0 lead.
The third set was competitive throughout, as the Giants outnumbered the Eagles in digs (19-17) and blocks (4-2) in the frame. Trealor kept the Giants in the set with a trio of kills, giving Fullerton a 15-14 lead. Later in the set, Campbell connected with another trio of kills to put the Giants up 22-15. The Titan’s momentum caused the American team to call a timeout. Immediately after the timeout, Traylor suffered an apparent injury to her arm, knocking her out of the game. Fullerton maintained his composure to win the third set, 25-22.
The Giants kept their momentum going in the fourth set, with two kills from Beaver and one from Campbell putting Fullerton up 6-2. The teams traded runs until Williams came up with a powerful kill followed by Campbell to give the Giants a 15-14 lead. With the set later tied at 22, a Beaver kill followed by two more from Williams decided the match, 25-22, as the Giants finished the frame with a total of 15 kills.
Fullerton came out strong in the fifth set, after Martinez’s winner gave Fullerton a 7-4 lead. The Americans fought back to tie the match at nine, but the Giants responded with kills from Beaver, Williams and Campbell to win the set, 15-12, completing the five-set comeback.
Next, the Titans will face Grand Canyon at Titan Gym next Friday, September 15, as part of a Big West/WAC showdown. The premiere is scheduled for 6:00 PM PT.
Watch the Giants on ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a first-class production studio to give viewers ESPN quality production of all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing high-quality ESPN streams that will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all conference road games.
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Fans can keep up with the latest Titan Athletics news by following us on Facebook ( Facebook/FullertonTitans ), and Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the volleyball team created its own Twitter (@fullerton_wvp) and Instagram accounts (@Fullerton_WVB).
