{"id":13135,"date":"2026-06-08T14:01:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13135"},"modified":"2026-06-08T14:01:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:01:47","slug":"a-look-back-at-cal-state-fullerton-players-and-coaches-who-made-their-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13135","title":{"rendered":"A look back at Cal State Fullerton players and coaches who made their mark"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Yes, the Cal State Fullerton softball team continued its destruction of the Big West Conference. And by all measures, the Titans\u2019 third consecutive title and fourth in five years defined \u201cdestruction.\u201d CSF went 24-3 in conference, then swept the inaugural Big West postseason tournament. It was the only Titans\u2019 team to claim a conference title in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

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Yes, that was the men\u2019s basketball team destroying the bad juju from the previous two seasons with a strong run in the conference tournament. Picked by the rest of the Big West coaches to finish last, the Titans went 12-8 in conference and 18-16 overall, earning the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament and earning head coach Dedrique Taylor Big West Coach of the Year \u2014 along with a two-year contract extension.<\/p>\n

Yes, that was the CSF women\u2019s golf team driving its way to its most successful season in program history. You couldn\u2019t miss Davina Xanh, Katharina Zeilinger and Kaitlin Zermeno Smith\u2019s names on the All-Big West First Team \u2014 the first time in program history three Titans earned All-Big West First Team honors in the same season.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Titans will bid a fond farewell to athletic director Jim Donovan, who announced his retirement in March. Donovan\u2019s impact on CSF Athletics during his 14 years heading the university\u2019s athletic program will put him in the school\u2019s Athletic Hall of Fame, sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

When he took the helm, the Titans graduated student-athletes at a 68% clip. Today, 80% complete their degrees in six years. Donovan also oversaw 33 Big West Championships and $28 million in capital improvements that included new facilities for baseball, basketball and aquatics, along with major upgrades for the track and field, tennis and softball programs.<\/p>\n

And yes, the program tragically lost two student-athletes last fall. Soccer player Lauren Turner died Nov. 7 from injuries sustained in a scooter accident. A week later, Dance Team member Destiny Morris died from what her mother told the Daily Titan were two undetected congenital heart conditions.<\/p>\n

Through the tears and the triumphs, there were moments that slipped under the radar worthy of attention. Moments like the women\u2019s water polo team finishing 17-15 \u2014 its first winning season in the program\u2019s brief, four-year history.<\/p>\n

Here are a few other moments from this season you might have missed.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Carlos gets kicks<\/h4>\n

Mario Carlos certainly has a flair for the moment. If you need convincing, Carlos provides this primer. The senior forward scored five of his seven goals in the last six games of the CSF men\u2019s soccer season, an offensive flurry that included a hat-trick in the Titans\u2019 beating of Cal State Bakersfield.<\/p>\n

That helped Carlos earn Big West Offensive Player of the Year honors, making him only the second Titan grabbing that honor. But, illustrating head coach George Kuntz\u2019s ability to find these offensive diamonds, Carlos is the second Titan in three seasons earning the honor. Roberto Ordonez was the first, in 2023.<\/p>\n

Then, there\u2019s the hammerlock the Titans have on the Big West Midfielder of the Year Award. Sophomore midfielder Jose de la Torre became the fourth consecutive Titan to claim that prize, following Erick Serrano (2023 and 2024) and Sebastian Cruz (2022). De la Torre continued the trend with 15 points on four goals and seven assists. The 15 points tied for the conference lead and the seven assists led the Big West and put de la Torre 23rd nationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are turning into Midfielder U,\u201d Kuntz told CSF\u2019s Bill Sheehan.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

John Bonner, we hardly knew ye<\/h4>\n

John Bonner arrived at CSF last May from Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he turned women\u2019s basketball into a bull market for the Toros. He led CSUDH to the NCAA Division II Championship game in 2024-25, four regular season or conference tournament championships and a 127-82 record in six seasons.<\/p>\n

Bonner brought the bull market with him to CSUF, bringing his pressing, pestering and passionate style of play to a fanbase starved for success.<\/p>\n

That feral, pressing style, called \u201cBonnerball,\u201d paid immediate dividends. The Titans finished 18-14, the program\u2019s second winning season since the 1990-91 campaign. Bonner became the new bar for first-year head coaches with those 18 wins and his 13-7 conference mark; records earned via a conference-leading 71.8 points per game and 39.9 rebounds per game. Bonnerball was as entertaining as it was successful; the Titans were second in the nation to national semifinalist UConn in steals per game (15.5) and second in turnovers forced at 26.88.<\/p>\n

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And just like that, Bonnerball is a memory. In mid-March, Bonner accepted a job at Seattle University, taking over a Redhawks\u2019 program that was in bigger disarray than the Titans were when he arrived. Seattle University was 5-25 and 1-17 in the West Coast Conference.<\/p>\n

The task keeping that momentum up now goes to Sammy Doucette, who was hired away from Orange Coast College earlier this month to be the 13th head coach in program history.<\/p>\n

Dossman, Orona<\/h4>\n

One of the most underrated stories in CSF athletics is its remarkable ability to recruit, nurture and spring standout decathletes on the Big West \u2014 and elsewhere. There was Brandon Campbell, who owned the program record for 22 years \u2014 until Andrew Aguilar shattered it by 269 points en route to the 2022 Big West title.<\/p>\n

Aguilar won two conference decathlon titles (2022 and 2023) and set the program record with 7,470 points. It lasted three years.<\/p>\n

Meet the Titans\u2019 new decathlete boss: Keith Orona. He finished second at the Big West Conference Track and Field Tournament with a record 7,675 points. Orona finished in the top four in all 10 events, placing first in the javelin and discus.<\/p>\n

So head coach Marques Barosso turned Orona loose in the individual javelin, discus and high jump, where he placed fourth in the high jump and fifth in the javelin. This made Orona a natural selection for Big West Field Athlete of the Year.<\/p>\n

Ian Dossman was an easier choice for Big West Track Athlete of the Year. He won the 100 meters and 200 meters, the latter coming in a program-record time in 20.20 seconds.<\/p>\n

Orona is ranked 15th in the West Region and is headed to Eugene, Oregon, for the NCAA Championships next month. Dossman, meanwhile, heads to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA Regionals, where he\u2019s ranked seventh in both sprints.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s back<\/h4>\n

Emilie Lugon-Moulin sat out the 2025 women\u2019s tennis season, courtesy of a midseason transfer from Concordia University. There, she was the Intercollegiate Tennis Association DIII Regional Rookie of the Year, going 17-4 in singles and 16-2 in doubles.<\/p>\n

So you could imagine how excited second-year coach Ellie Johnson was when Lugon-Moulin dropped in on a Titans\u2019 program that is on a momentum rush. The Titans finished third during the conference season going 6-3 in conference and 14-8 overall, before losing, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament to Cal State Northridge.<\/p>\n

Lugon-Moulin was a big reason for that. She shook off whatever rust remained from her year off, racking up a 14-5 singles record and 7-2 doubles mark in conference. That earned the Swiss native \u2014 who started playing tennis because her mother\u2019s favorite athlete is the iconic Roger Federer \u2014 All-Big West First Team honors in singles.<\/p>\n

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The junior is one of five players expected to return next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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