Box Score

LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team picked up a smart first victory Friday in its opening match of the Southern California Classic.

 

The Golden Eagles started quickly and posted a 25-12, 26-24, 25-22 victory over Alaska Fairbanks to present new Cal State L.A. head coach Randi Smart with her first victory. The Golden Eagles, ranked 20^th in the nation, will return to action later Friday evening against Seattle Pacific. The Southern California Classic is being hosted by Cal State L.A., Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

 

Smart succeeded Bill Lawler, who resigned after 13 seasons as Cal State L.A.'s head coach.

 

In Smart's first match, the Golden Eagles hit at a .297 clip and recorded 11 services aces with a young lineup that included only two seniors. One of those seniors, Gabriela Bulawczyk, picked up where she left off last season when she was named an AVCA All-American. She pounded out a match-high 19 kills in 36 attacks and hit at a .500 percentage. She also led the team with four service aces. Sophomore Chelsea Hamilton had 11 attacks in 25 swings for a .320 percentage and freshman Marquis Mora had seven kills.

 

Sophomore Kaylynne De La Rosa had 33 set assists and also had three kills and three service aces. Junior Kassie Faulkner had five blocks to go along with three kills, Annie Kim had a team-high 10 digs and one ace, while Stefanie Gay had eight digs and two service aces.

 

Alaska (0-2) got 11 kills and nine digs from Megan Thigpen. Heather Lyons had seven kills, while Alexa Sherman had 26 set assists and 12 digs.

 

The Golden Eagles held a 14-10 lead in the first set, but started a game-ending 11-2 run with a Bulawczyk kill. Strong serving by De La Rosa and Bulawczyk that included three service errors got Cal State L.A. to set point and the Golden Eagles closed it out on an Alaska service error.

 

The second and third sets were extremely close and could have gone either way. Alaska opened up a 22-19 lead in the second set and held a set point after a kill by Thigpen made it 24-23. Cal State L.A., though, got two straight kills from Bulawczyk and then a block by Faulkner and Hamilton to win the set.

 

The Golden Eagles held narrow leads through most of the third set, but the Nanooks got a kill from Thigpen to tie the set for the final time at 22-22. The Golden Eagles then got a kill from De La Rosa, a kill by Hamilton and a kill by Bulawczyk to end the match.

 

Cal State L.A. will play Seattle Pacific (1-0) at 7 p.m. in the Eagles Nest.