MOSCOW, Idaho – The Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball team bounced back from a season-opening straight set loss to Portland to earn its first victory of the year, and the first under head coach Nicky Cannon, with a 3-2 win over Idaho on Friday night at the Vandal Volleyball Invitational.
The Titans fell to Portland 3-0 (21-25, 19-25, 23-25) in their opener before defeating Idaho in five sets (22-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-19, 15-8) to close the day with a 1-1 record.Â
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Portland 3, Cal State Fullerton 0
Senior
Ketesia Hall led the Titans with 11 kills on .313 hitting, including the team's first three points of the match. She added three block assists and six digs for 12.5 points.
Freshman
Lira Pukl Verdel joined Hall in double figures with 10 kills on .353 hitting, with her first kill tying the score at 5-5 in the opening set. Portland pulled away late to take the frame 25-21.
Junior
Kahea Carvalho, who finished the match with 16 assists, opened the scoring for Fullerton in the second set with a kill. The Titans built a 6-3 lead behind a five-point run, highlighted by Hall's fifth kill and a block with freshman
Zariah Crosby, but Portland answered with two scoring runs of its own to win 25-19.
The third set stayed tight, with the Titans saving two match points before Portland closed out the sweep 25-23.
Cal State Fullerton 3, Idaho 2
The Titans returned to the court to secure their first win of the season, thanks to dominant performances from both the newcomers and veterans. Freshman
Hannah Hass led with 10 kills on .320 hitting, four block assists and two aces for 14 points.
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Hall added 10 kills, two digs and five blocks, while Pukl Verdel had eight kills, nine digs and a team-high four aces.
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Carvalho posted 28 assists and 11 digs, while
Mya Tillman added 13 assists, three digs and an ace.
Kaia Herweg collected 17 digs, followed by
Mia Feldhaus with 14 and
Marisa Nakata with five.
After dropping the first set, the Titans evened the match with a 25-17 win in the second set, hitting .200 as a team. Idaho retook the lead in the third, but Fullerton answered in the fourth, erasing a 6-0 deficit and using six late Vandal errors to pull out a 25-19 win.
Back-to-back service aces from Pukl Verdel opened the deciding set, and Hall closed it with three late kills before teaming with Crosby on the match-winning block in a 15-8 victory. As a squad, the Titans outplayed the Vandals with 49 kills, eight service aces, 13 blocks, 45 assists and 69 digs.Â
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The Titans conclude their run at the Vandal Volleyball Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 10:00 a.m. against Oral Roberts in Memorial Gym.Â
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