SPOKANE, Wash. – The Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball team fell to Gonzaga in straight sets (16-25, 20-25, 14-25) Thursday night at the Gonzaga Invitational. The Titans move to 1-3 overall and 0-1 at the tournament.
Fullerton tallied 27 kills on .078 hitting, compared with Gonzaga's 45 kills on .333 hitting. Sophomore
Marisa Nakata led the Titans with six kills, followed by five kills each from
Bella Risling and
Hannah Hass.
The Titans dropped the opening set to Gonzaga, 25-16. Risling led Fullerton offensively in the first set with four kills, including her 30th collegiate kill to even the score at 1-1. Gonzaga took control of the frame and held a 15-9 lead at the media timeout. Fullerton answered with a short run, cutting Gonzaga's lead to three, 15-12, following a block assist by
Sofia Shine and
Emilia Graham.
A service error by the Titans helped push the Bulldogs to a 20-14 advantage. Nakata fended off a Gonzaga set point with her second kill, but the Bulldogs silenced the Titans with a kill to lead the match, 1-0.
Fullerton fell 25-20 in the second set. Hass and
Kaia Herweg both put away three kills, while back-to-back errors by the Bulldogs, a service ace by
Italia Bernal, and a kill by Shine helped the Titans cut their deficit to 23-18. A kill by Hass and an attack error kept the Titans alive through two set points, but 11 errors ultimately cost the Titans. Gonzaga secured the set and advanced to a 2-0 match lead.
Gonzaga controlled the third set, defeating the Titans in a 25-14 win to complete the straight-set victory. The Bulldogs jumped to an early 7-2 lead, awarding Fullerton its only two points on Gonzaga service errors. Hass recorded Fullerton's first point of the set with a kill to make it 7-3. Kills by
Arianna Ellis and Shine kept the Titans within two points, 13-11. Shine led the Titans with three kills on .375 hitting in the third set, but could not overcome Gonzaga's late 6-0 run to secure the sweep.
The Titans return to the court against Eastern Washington on Friday at the Gonzaga Invitational. First serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
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