By the time Cal State Fullerton star Brittany Moore left Saturday night’s Big West Conference match at Northridge with a tweaked ankle, she had already done more than enough damage to the Matadors.
With the Titans leading 14-12 in the third set, Moore landed awkwardly after a score and had to be helped off the court. The Titans (9-10, 3-2 Big West) went on to win the set and sweep the Matadors (5-14, 0-6) by scores of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-19 at the Matadome.
Cal State Fullerton also avoided a bigger loss: Moore. The outside hitter’s injury turned out to be non-serious. She was even ready to go back in the match, but her teammates finished the game off in three sets. Moore’s parents were in attendance and felt their daughter’s pain.
‘Just the initial shock scared her,’ said Renee Moore, the player’s mother.
‘We could have gotten her back in if the team needed her,’ Titan Head Coach Carolyn Zimmerman said. ‘She would have stepped in.’
When she was on the court, the senior proved to be unstoppable, racking up 21 kills with only five errors for a .356 hitting percentage.
Moore, the conference’s reigning Player of the Week, posted her third consecutive 20-plus kill match and single-handedly collected nearly half of the Titans’ kill total for the night (43). The highest killing Titan after Moore was Erin Saddler, who had seven for the game.
‘(You) have to give credit to Fullerton, in particular Moore,’ Northridge Head Coach Jeff Stork said. ‘She played a hell of a match.’
Eight of the 21 kills came in the first set where every point seemed crucial. The set featured 15 tie scores and seven lead-changes. Neither team held a lead of over two points. At 15-15, Angela Hupp scored one of her seven kills to give Northridge the one-point advantage. Fullerton scored three of the next four points to go up 18-17. The Matadors answered with two straight, forcing Zimmerman to call a timeout. The Titans responded, taking a 23-22 lead, which they didn’t relinquish.
Northridge seemed distraught and disappointed after the first-set loss and didn’t play well to start the second one, giving up six of the first seven points. They didn’t play well after that either and trailed the entire set. Moore’s play continued to pay dividends as she followed her eight-kill first-set performance with seven kills in the second set. Fullerton held leads of as high as nine points in the set. In volleyball, nine-point deficits are not easy to overcome.
Not many tasks have been easy for Northridge this season. The loss is their 11th straight.
They were hoping the losing streak would finally end and a more positive streak would stay intact. Northridge had won five straight over the Titans dating back to the 2005 season. Last season, the Matadors came back from a 2-1 deficit to claim a five-set victory at Northridge. The teams will meet again Nov. 8 in Fullerton.
‘If you look at the series history between the two teams,’ Zimmerman said. ‘The matches have been barnburner dog fights.’
Both head coaches agree that momentum would have shifted to the Matadors’ side had Northridge won the third set, given that Moore was not at 100 percent. But, on Matadome Alumni Night, momentum didn’t have time to get to the Matadors.
‘Twenty one kills. That’s [an average] of seven kills a (set),’ said Stork about Moore’s night. ‘We have players who are trying to get four kills a (set).’
Fullerton out-hit Northridge .297 to .162 and did not hit less than .273 in any of the sets. Val Kepler led the Matadors with a .438 attack percentage and tied for the team-high in kills with nine, matching Siara Grayson.
Setter Andrea Ragan posted 35 assists and nine digs for the Titans. Libero Cami Croteau had a match-high 12 digs.
Cal State Northridge continues its three-game homestand next week as the Matadors host UC Davis and Pacific Friday and Saturday respectively.
