ANTEATER DIGEST / ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Donnie Rafter
Volleyball
Rafter, a senior from Tustin High, had a team-high 25 kills and eight digs as the men’s volleyball team picked up its first victory of the season Thursday, upsetting 14th-ranked UC Santa Barbara.
THIS WEEK
Men’s basketball: Things are getting desperate after five consecutive losses, and a spot in the conference tournament looks iffy. “We need to come out seriously aggressive in our next game,” forward Ben Jones said. That chance comes Thursday at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Anteaters play at UC Santa Barbara Saturday. Both games are at 7 p.m.
Women’s basketball: Guard Megan Stafford, who broke the school record for career assists Thursday against Pacific, has 356 assists in only 87 games. She leads the Big West with 5.9 assists per game and the Anteaters will need all the floor leadership they can get at 7 Saturday night when No. 22 UC Santa Barbara (13-3 and 5-0 in conference) visits the Bren Center. Irvine hosts Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (5-5, 2-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Men’s tennis: The Anteaters face fifth-ranked UCLA at 1:30 today in Westwood before hosting Pacific at 1:30 Friday and St. Mary’s at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Men’s volleyball: The 1-3 Anteaters open a three-game homestand at 7 tonight against Princeton in Crawford Hall. They host Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. Thursday and Pepperdine at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Swimming and diving: Cal State Northridge and UNLV will be at the Heritage Park Aquatics Complex in Irvine at noon Saturday for a tri-meet with the Anteaters.
TITAN DIGEST / ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ike Harmon
Men’s basketball
Harmon scored 22 points in each of Fullerton’s Big West victories last week over Long Beach State and Pacific. Against Long Beach, Harmon’s jump shot with 48 seconds left in the overtime put Fullerton ahead to stay. He also blocked a potential game-tying shot by the 49ers’ Charles O’Neal with two seconds left. Against Pacific Saturday, Harmon gave the Titans a three-point lead on a three-point play with 1 minute 18 seconds left.
THIS WEEK
Men’s basketball: The Titans play at UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Thursday and at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 2 p.m. Saturday. Fullerton has won only once on the road in seven games this season.
Women’s basketball: The Titans (2-15, 0-6 in the Big West) are still struggling. They play two games at home this week, facing UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Thursday and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 2 p.m. Saturday. Erin Whiteside leads the Titans in scoring (13.5 points) and rebounding (8.7).
Wrestling: The Titans, who lost to 12th-ranked Cal State Bakersfield in a dual meet last weekend, are at Brigham Young Saturday and at Boise State Sunday.
Women’s tennis: The Titans (1-2) host North Texas in a Big West match at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Women’s gymnastics: Fullerton meets Arizona and Boise State in a meet Sunday in Boise, Idaho
HOW TO REACH US
Lon Eubanks covers Cal State Fullerton for The Times Orange County, and can be reached at (714) 966-5780, or by e-mail at lon.eubanks@latimes.com. Chris Foster covers UC Irvine, and can be reached at (714) 966-7834, or by e-mail at chris.foster@latimes.com.