WEEKLY RELEASE
CSUN and UOP to Visit Titan Gym
November 2, 2004 – Fullerton, Calif.

Complete release in PDF format

SERVICE!: The Cal State Fullerton women’s volleyball team (11-11 overall, 3-9 in the Big West) will wrap up a four-game homestand this weekend against Cal State Northridge and University of Pacific in two Big West Conference matches. The Matadors will be in town Friday (11/5) night and the Tigers will visit Titan Gym Saturday night (11/6). First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Fullerton will look to break a few streaks this weekend as the Matadores (13-8, 8-5) come to Fullerton riding a eight-game winning streak against the Titans and are 15-4 lifetime. Northridge swept the Titans (3-0) in their last meeting on 10/9 in Northridge.

The Tigers (12-8, 9-4) are a perfect 41-0 against the Titans dominating Fullerton since the 1984 season. When they last met, the Titans managed to get one game from the Tigers but were defeated 3-1 on 10/7 in Stockton.

HOME SWEET HOME: By defeating UC Davis last Friday night, Fullerton earned a place in the Titan record book by becoming the first women’s volleyball team to ever win 10 home games in the sports 29-year history. The record was formerly held by the 1996 squad that finished 9-3 at home en route to a 16-13 overall record.

IMPROVING: With Fullerton’s three conference victories in 2004, the Titans have already notched as many conference wins as the last two seasons combined. Fullerton was 2-16 in 2003, and 1-17 in 2002. Both teams finished in 10th in the conference ... With its 11-11 overall record, CSF has reached ten or more victories for the first time since the 1997 team was 12-18 and only the 8th time in the 29 years of the sport ... This is the first 10-win season for Carolyn Zimmerman in her three years as Titan head coach.

CLIMBING THE LADDER: Senior Lauren Goins put her mark in the Titan record books 10/22/04 against UC Santa Barbara. Goins became only the fourth Titan to reach the 1,000-kill mark and the first to reach the plateau since Megan Sabo reached it in 2000 ... She is now setting on 1049 career kills, ranking fourth all-time. Goins is also moving up a couple of other lists ... she tallied up 20 more digs this past weekend to give her 914 in her three-plus years in a Titan jersey. That puts her in sole-possesion of fifth place all-time behind Krista Bebernes (1,020) from the 1999-2000 seasons. She has also become only the fourth Titan with 100 or more career aces good for fourth all-time. She now has a team-leading 33 aces on the year and 101 for her career.

ON THE ATTACK: Senior Carley Dial continues to strike the ball well for average. Her .318 clip (169 kills, 49 errors and 377 attempts) is good for ninth place on the Big West leader board ... Senior outside hitter Lauren Goins places ninth on the Big West kills per game list. She is slamming 3.73 kills per game with a team-leading 306 kills in 82 games. Goins is 128 kills ahead of her next closest teammate Alyssa Opeka who has 178.

DIGGIN’ IT: Having dug out 30 spikes over the past weekend, Fullerton freshman libero Vanessa Vella is continuing to make a name for herself as one of the best diggers in the Big West Conference. Vella’s 359 digs have put her fourth place on the Titan single-season record list and her 4.38 dpg rank her sixth in the Big West.

ACES HIGH: Serving has been one of the strengths for the Titans in 2004, and that is reflected in the most recent Big West Conference statistical reports. Fullerton leads the conference with 150 total aces and ranks second in the league with 1.83 per game ... Titans have two players among the top 10 in the individual category: Lauren Goins ranks fifth at 0.40 pg while Alyssa Opeka stands eighth at 0.37 pg. Goins 33 total aces puts her forth in the conference in service aces, one of five players with 30 or more.

GREAT WALL OF TITANS: Cal State Fullerton continues to play well at the net this season, out-blocking the opposition in ten of the team’s eleven victories and ranking fourth in the conference with 2.54 bpg. This success is led by the play of senior Tiffany Dolven, who ranks fifth in the league with 1.24 bpg and has the most solo blocks (31) of any player in the Big West Conference.

MS. CONSISTANT: Cal State Fullerton senior Lauren Goins has posted double-digit kills in 20 of the Titans’ 22 matches (including the first seven straight) and has had 14 matches of 10-or-more digs (including a season-high 23 digs against Arizona State) ... She’s well ahead of last year’s pace when she had just five matches of 10-or-more kills in the first 10 matches and in 18 overall.

ABOUT THE TITANS: Cal State Fullerton returns eight letterwinners from last year’s squad which went 8-22 overall (2-16 in the Big West), including five players who started 20 or more matches in 2003. The roster is very balanced with a good mix of experience (seven upperclassmen, including four seniors) and youth (eight freshmen and sophomores). Fullerton also returns a potent offense with the returners accounting for just over 92 percent of the offense last season, 96.5 percent of the team’s blocks, and just under 52 percent of the digs from 2003.

TITANS PICKED NINTH IN PRESEASON COACHES POLL: Cal State Fullerton was picked to finish ninth in the Big West Conference this season according to a poll of the league’s head coaches. The Titans, who finished 10th last season, received 21 points to finish ahead of UC Riverside – the source of Fullerton’s only two conference wins in 2003 ... UC Santa Barbara received nine first-place votes and was picked to repeat as league champs for a third consecutive season with 99 points.

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