HONOLULU – Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball (7-15, 2-8) came up short in a tight second set and fell to Hawai'i (8-13, 4-6) in straight sets (19-25, 28-30, 14-25) on Saturday night.
Hannah Hass led the Titans offensively with eight kills on .471 hitting with a service ace and block assist.
Marisa Nakata delivered five kills and 10 digs in front of friends and family in her home state, while
Zariah Crosby matched her with five kills and added a solo block and three block assists.
Hass evened the match at 1-1 with a kill before Hawai'i responded with a 4-0 run for a 5-2 lead over the Titans. Fullerton tied it at 6-6 on a Crosby kill and block assist with
Neeva Gaine, then powered to an 11-7 lead on a 5-0 scoring run, which prompted a Rainbow Wahine timeout. Nakata,
Ketesia Hall, and Hass added kills as the Titans maintained a 15-13 edge. Hawai'i rallied from behind, taking a 20-19 lead and closing on an eight-point run for a 25-19 win.
In the second set, Nakata smashed a kill to pull Fullerton even at 4-4 after an early deficit. Gaine later found the back line to end a lengthy rally, keeping the Titans within 7-5. Fullerton continued to chip away, eventually tying the frame at 17-17 before taking its first lead at 18-17 on a
Kahea Carvalho service ace. Consecutive Hawai'i attack errors helped the Titans to a 20-19 advantage, while Hass' fifth kill and Crosby's 10th solo block of the season made it 22-20.
Hawai'i answered with four straight points, forcing two Titan timeouts. Crosby found the deep corner, and Nakata followed with a kill to knot the set at 24-24.
Nakata delivered two more attacks down the line and cross-court to keep the Titans alive at 27-27 and again at 28-28, but the Rainbow Wahine's Cha'lei Reid sealed the set, 30-28, with back-to-back kills.
The Titans granted the Rainbow Wahine control of the third set after tying it at 1-1 on a Hawai'i service error. Hawai'i posted its sharpest offensive frame of the night, hitting .412 with 17 kills and just three errors, while the Titans were limited to seven kills and four service errors in the set. Hass and
Sarah Schubert contributed two kills each, and
Fina Tuinauvai added a kill and a block assist with Crosby. However, their efforts were not enough in a 25-14 loss that completed the sweep.
Fullerton returns home on Oct. 31 for a meeting with Long Beach State at 6 p.m. before hosting UC San Diego on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m.
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