Cal State Fullerton

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball team fell to Oral Roberts in four sets (25-20, 25-27, 22-25, 21-25) Saturday at the Gonzaga Invitational. The Titans move to 2-4 overall and 1-2 at the tournament. 

As a team, the Titans recorded 52 kills on a .154 hitting percentage. Italia Bernal was responsible for 39 of Fullerton's 47 assists and five of the team's seven service aces. Zariah Crosby led the Titans with three solo blocks and one block assist. Sofia Shine led the offense with 15 kills, while Bella Risling followed closely behind with 14 kills along with 13 kills from Marisa Nakata. 

The Titans opened the match with a 25-20 first-set win over the Golden Eagles. Fullerton recorded its best hitting percentage of the match in the opening set at .294. Shine, Risling and Nakata tallied four kills each. Crosby helped the Titans to a 7-7 tie with a kill and solo block during a 4-0 run. Fullerton pushed to a 15-11 advantage following a block assist from Emilia Graham and Shine. Oral Roberts fended off Fullerton's set point with a 3-0 run before Risling secured the set win to give the Titans a 1-0 match lead. 

Oral Roberts evened the match with a 27-25 win in the second set. Early attacking errors from the Titans helped the Golden Eagles to a 10-5 advantage. Oral Roberts used a 5-0 run to extend its lead lead to 20-12, but Fullerton rallied to tie the set at 24-24 behind kills from Shine and Risling and service aces from Bernal. Crosby evened the set at 25-25 with her third solo block of the match before Oral Roberts won the set with a block assist. 

The Titans dropped the third set, 25-22, after battling through 11 ties and seven lead changes. Shine, Risling, Nakata, and Crosby accounted for all 12 of Fullerton's kills in the set, each recording three. Bernal assisted on all 12 kills. Bernal and Graham gave the Titans a 9-8 lead with a block assist, before Risling extended Fullerton's lead to 11-10 with the 60th kill of her freshman campaign. Oral Roberts used a 6-2 run to take an 18-17 lead, but Shine and Crosby put Fullerton back in front, 20-18, on three straight kills. The Golden Eagles advanced into set point and won the set for a 2-1 match lead. 

The Golden Eagles claimed the match with a 25-21 fourth-set win. Risling led the Titans on the attack with five kills on .273 hitting, accounting for the team's first three points. Nakata added three kills, while Graham recorded a solo block at the net. Oral Roberts used a 3-0 run to complete the reverse sweep. 

The Titans travel to Charleston, South Carolina, for the Playa Bowls Invitational Sept. 11-12. Fullerton will open the weekend on Friday against Bethune-Cookman at 10:00 a.m. PT and Charleston Southern at 4:00 p.m. PT before concluding the weekend on Saturday against The Citadel at 9:00 a.m. PT. 

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