Box Score
LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team ended its regular-season on a positive note Saturday night and will now wait to see what its postseason will entail.
The Golden Eagles, ranked 20th in the nation and sixth in the most recent NCAA Division II West Region poll, flexed their muscles in a 21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-12 California Collegiate Athletic Association win over another regional contender, Chico State, in the Eagles Nest. Cal State L.A. (21-8, 17-6 CCAA) wrapped up third place in the conference with the victory and dropped Chico State (23-9, 14-8 CCAA) into fifth place. The Wildcats were ranked 10th in the latest West Region poll.
The top eight teams will advance to the 64-team NCAA playoffs. Pairings will be announced Sunday evening on
www.ncaa.com.
Cal State L.A. won for the 12th time in its last 14 matches and completed a season sweep over Chico State. The Golden Eagles also beat the Wildcats in Chico on Oct. 9 and both matches ended in similar fashion with Cal State L.A. overpowering Chico State in the fourth set to win.
On Saturday, the Golden Eagles jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 11-2 and never looked back.
Cal State L.A. hit at a .306 clip for the match and held Chico State to just .167. Cal State L.A. had 15 kills and a .387 in the final set. The Golden Eagles were dominant at the net, enjoying a 12-1 blocking advantage.
Zuzana Cizova had a tremendous match, pounding down 20 kills in just 31 swings with no errors for a hitting percentage of .645.
Gabriela Bulawczyk had 17 kills and 14 digs, while
Mary Laupepa had nine kills and seven blocks.
Makenzie Snyder had 24 kills in 70 attacks for the Wildcats, while Gillian Heydorff had 15 kills and 18 digs.
The Golden Eagles got production from several sources.
Stefanie Gay had a career-high 31 digs in the match, which is tied for fourth on the Cal State L.A. single-game list.
Marquis Mora had seven kills and five blocks,
Kassie Faulkner had three kills and five blocks and
Kaylynne De La Rosa had 48 set assists and 16 digs.
Cal State L.A. had 93 digs in the match, which included several long rallies with both teams playing at playoff intensity.
Chico State, spurred on by a boisterous group of supporters, took the first set and opened up a 14-9 lead in the second set. Following a Cal State L.A. timeout, though, the match began to turn in the Golden Eagles' favor. Three kills by Cizova and a block by Mora got the Golden Eagles back into the set at 14-13 and the Golden Eagles eventually moved out to a 19-17 lead after a block by De La Rosa and Laupepa and an attack error. The Golden Eagles would take one-point leads at 18-17, 19-18, 20-19, 21-20, 22-21 and 23-22, only to see Chico State tie it each time. Finally, at 23-23, kills by Cizova and Bulawczyk got the Golden Eagles even in the match.
Cal State L.A. was more energized after the intermission and steadily built a 23-18 lead in the third set after four kills in five points from Bulawczyk. Chico State fought back and got to within 24-23, but, following a Cal State L.A. timeout, Cizova pounded down a kill to end the set.
The Golden Eagles took quick control of the fourth set and won going away. De La Rosa served for the first seven points of the set and Cal State L.A. breezed. Two kills by Bulawczyk, a kill by Laupepa, an ace by De La Rosa and a block by Faulkner and Laupepa gave the Golden Eagles a quick 5-0 edge and prompted a Chico State timeout. Faulkner added a kill and Laupepa and Bulawczyk added a block to make it 7-0. The lead grew to 10-2 after a kill by Laupepa that resulted in Chico State's final timeout.
Cal State L.A. kept a six or seven-point lead for most of the set and then really broke things open behind some solid serving by Bulawczyk, who had a pair of aces during a run that made it 22-10. The Golden Eagles got to match point at 24-12 after a block by Faulkner and Mora and then won the match on a kill by Mora.
Cal State L.A. honored its two seniors, Bulawczyk and
Keslie Brown in pre-game ceremonies.
