Nov. 15, 2008
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - For the first time in 2008 the Pacific women's volleyball team suffered a loss in the Alex G. Spanos Center as the Tigers dropped a 3-2, five game, decision to Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, November 15. The loss dropped the Tigers to 10-15 overall and 9-6 in conference action while the Titans improved to 16-14 on the year and 9-6 in the Big West.
Set scores for the match were: 26-24, 22-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-10.
From the first set it Pacific faced a difficult push from the Titans. Cal State Fullerton hit .326 with 19 kills and just four errors in the first set and finished the match with a .339 hitting average.
Cal State Fullerton held a 15-11 edge at the first media timeout, but playing at home the Tigers have been at their best all season. The Tigers scored seven of the next nine points to take an 18-17 lead. Senior Shannon Krug (Colorado Springs, Colo.) got the rally started as she teamed with fellow senior Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland) for a block on the outside. Krug found juniors Masha Vaysburg (Livermore, Calif.), Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.) and sophomore Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany) for kills, then capped Pacific's run with an ace.
Trailing 24-23 later in the game, Krug went to fellow senior Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.) for a cross-court kill to tie things up at 24-24. Unfortunately, Cal State Fullerton answered the challenge with the final two points of the set to take the 26-24 win and a 1-0 lead.
Pacific regrouped to take the next to sets by playing almost flawless volleyball.
Down 15-11 again at the first media timeout, Pacific found their rallying cry behind Tomaszewska. Gibson starting Pacific down the comeback trail with a kill, but Tomaszewska followed with a block and consecutive kills to tie things up at 15-15. After trading points to make it 16-16, Pacific grabbed the lead for good at 17-16 on another termination by Tomaszewska. Fittingly, Natalia drove home the final point of the set to lift Pacific to a 25-22 win and even the match at 1-1. Tomaszewska finished the second set with six kills on seven attempts.
The Tigers controlled the third set but were never able to pull away. Leading 18-16, the Tigers surrendered four of the next five points and found themselves down 20-19. Head coach Charlie Wadde used his first timeout to calm and focus his team on the task at hand. Wade's action worked as Engelhardt slammed down a cross-court kill, then Vaysburg and Gibson blocked Brittany Moore to reclaim the lead at 21-20. Following a Titan timeout, Moore tied the set at 21-21 with a kill from the middle.
This time the Tigers went back to Anderson and she delivered three straight kills to lift Pacific to a 24-21 lead. With the Titans keying on Anderson, Krug went to the other side for Gibson, who ended the set on a cross-court bomb to give Pacific the 25-21 win.
Set number four was the most one sided affair of the match and Pacific committed seven errors and hit just .116, while Cal State Fullerton posted 15 kills and only two errors for a .371 average. The Titans went on to take the fourth set, 25-16.
The Titans momentum into the fifth set as Cal State Fullerton took a 12-6 lead and cruised to a 15-10 win. Once again, the difference was hitting percentage as the Titans delivered 11 kills and only three errors on 29 attempts (.276), while Pacific finished with five kills and four errors on 27 swings (.037).
Four Tigers finished in double-figures in kills, led by 18 from Anderson. Engelhardt finished with 17 kills and 13 digs for her third double-double in four matches. Gibson and Tomaszewska rounded out the double figures in kills with 15 and 13 respectively. Junior Dancyne Kama (Hilo, Hawaii) finished with a match-high 28 digs.
Moore led Cal State Fullerton with 31 kills and 16 digs, while Alex Wolnisty had 20 kills and Erin Sadler finished with 14 kills.
Pacific completes their Big West Conference season on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. as the Tigers travel to UC Davis to face the Aggies at 7 p.m.
