Sept. 3, 2005

Fullerton, Calif. - Danielle Hitzman's 18 kills, 24 digs and 1 solo block Cal State Fullerton beat an unbeaten UTEP volleyball team in five games, 3-2 (23-30, 30-32, 31-29, 30-24, 15-11), Saturday night at Titan Gymnasium. With the win, Cal State Fullerton won the Four Points Titan Classic for the second consecutive season.

Fullerton improves to 3-1 on the season as they handed the Miners from Texas - El Paso their first loss, dropping their record to 6-1.

Despite hitting just .045 in the match against UTEP, Titan Classic MVP Alyssa Opeka collected 10 kills, 17 digs, seven blocks and 4 service aces, joining three other Titans on the all-tournament team.

MVP runner-up Kari Stacy proved her worth as she blasted 33 kills and tallied 24 digs, leading all players with 35.5 points in the match.

Fullerton held UTEP to just a .132 hitting percentage not allowing them to hit any higher than .186 in any one game.

Including Alyssa Opeka, the all-tournament team stacked up with Kari Stacy and Brittany Stowers of UTEP, Vanessa Portela of UMKC, and Titans Sarah Morrison, Vanessa Vella and Brittany Moore.

Cal State Fullerton will rest the rest of the Holiday weekend before traveling to San Diego State on Wednesday evening.

OTHER GAMES PLAYED TODAY

Game Five UMKC vs. Marist

UMKC Wins for First Time in 2005

Led by Vanessa Portela's 14 kills and .619 hitting percentage, The University of Misourri - Kansas City picked up their first victory of the season with a 3-0 win over Marist in Game Five of the Four Points Titan Classic at Titan Gymnasium Saturday night.

With the victory, UMKC improves to 1-5 on the season and secured the third place in the tournament. Marist dropped to 0-5 overall and finishes last in the classic.

UMKC's Sarah Johnson also added 12 kills and hit .526 contributing to the Kangaroos .353 overall hitting percentage. Marist hit a dismal -0.41 for the match with Jamie Kenworthy and Kim McEathron leading the Red Foxes with five kills a piece.

UMKC finished the game in one hour and thirty-five minutes by scores of 30-18, 30-17 and 30-21 in the three-game sweep.

Game Four UTEP vs. Marist

UTEP Remains Undefeated in 2005

Stacy and Peugh lead Texas El Paso to their six straight win.

Sept. 3, 2005 &\#149; Fullerton, Calif.

UPTEP remained undefeated in the Four Points Titan Classic behind 14 kills by Kari Stacy and six blocks by Stacy Peugh as they downed Marist in the fourth game of the tournament 3-0 (30-17, 30-19, 30-28) Saturday afternoon at Titan Gymnasium.

UTEP improved to 6-0 and awaits Cal State Fullerton Saturday evening in the final match of the tournament for the championship. Marist remains winless on the 2005 season at 0-4 and will compete with UMKC in match five on the weekend.

Stacy hit just .150 but lead all players in kills as she was the only player to get into double digits while also leading all players in total points with 18.0. UTEP's Jessica Williams and Peugh each collected eight kills in the winning effort. She also added four sevice aces from the line and five digs.

Though they were not as dominant as they were on Friday, the Miners out-hit the Red Foxes .163-.000 on the match capturing their second straight tournament victory.

Kim McEathron was solid from the defensive side collecting 16 digs for the Red Foxes, and leading all players.

Game Three Cal State Fullerton vs. UMKC

Cal State Fullerton Wins Thriller in Titan Gym Titans drop first two games, only to win three in a row to improve to 2-1

Sept. 3, 2005 &\#149; Fullerton, Calif.

Alyssa Opeka paced the Titans with 17 kills and 22.5 total point as Cal State Fullerton rallied from an 0-2 deficit to beat UMKC 3-2 (31-33, 18-30, 30-14, 30-20, 15-10) in Game 3 of the Four Points Titan Classic Saturday morning at Titan Gymnasium.

Fullerton jumped above the .500 mark and improved to 2-1 while UMKC fell to 0-5.

Opeka, Brittany Moore (11) and Sarah Morrison (15) each collected double-digits in kills as the Titans out-hit the Kangaroos .207-.177.

Going into game three, the Titans found themselves trailing 0-2 and proceeded to hit .379, .371, and .211 en route to their second consecutive home victory of the season.

UMKC's Vanessa Portella led all players with 18 kills and hit .316 while Danni Sperry and Lauren Starks added 14 and 16 kills respectively.

Cal State Fullerton out-blocked the Kangaroos 11-5 as a team and were led by freshman Brittany Moore who stuffed seven total on the day including one solo.

Three Titans tallied multiple service aces, with Amy Dixon, Opeka, and Jennifer Francisco each picking up three a piece.

The Titans' Vannessa Vella (23) and UMKC's Mandy Tipton (20) led the way in digs.

The Titans look to defend their Four Points Titan Classic title as they will take on UTEP for a possible outright championship at 7:30 pm in Titan Gym in the sixth and final game.