Box Score

LOS ANGELES – The venue was different, but the result was the same for Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team.

 

The Golden Eagles were unable to hold on to a 2-1 lead in sets and lost for the second this season to San Francisco State, 24-26, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 15-12 Friday night in the Eagles Nest. Cal State L.A. also dropped a five-set California Collegiate Athletic Association match to San Francisco State in San Francisco earlier this season.

 

Cal State L.A. (11-9, 8-8 CCAA) lost its second straight match, while San Francisco State (11-10, 8-8 CCAA) snapped a four-match losing streak.

 

The match Friday was very similar to the one Cal State L.A. dropped to the Gators in San Francisco on Sept. 26. In that match, Cal State L.A. had a 2-1 lead in sets and advantages of 17-10 and 24-20 in the fourth set.

 

On Friday, the Golden Eagles had a 2-1 lead in sets and a 17-9 advantage in the fourth set. This time, though, the Golden Eagles were unable to get any match points despite the big lead.

 

Marquis Mora had a tremendous match for the Golden Eagles, pounding down 22 kills with a hitting percentage of .576. She also had five blocks. Zuzana Cizova had 14 kills for the Golden Eagles, while Natalia Gonzalez had 11 kills.

 

Halimah Oswald had a tremendous match for the Gators, matching Mora with 22 kills and also contributing three blocks. Sarah Lewis had 14 kills and Lauren Walsh had 11 kills.

 

Cal State L.A. had a slim 67-63 advantage in kills and hit at a .207 percentage to .208 for the Gators. San Francisco State had a slight 11-10 edge in blocks and Cal State L.A. had a 9-5 advantage in service aces.

 

Amrita Tuladhar had 58 set assists and three aces, while Stefanie Gay had 27 digs. Mary Laupepa had eight kills and four blocks.

 

All five sets were hard-fought. The Golden Eagles took the first set by scoring the final seven points to erase a 24-19 deficit. A strong serving run by Gay made it possible, while a kill by Tuladhar and a block by Laupepa and Tuladhar broke a 24-24 tie.

 

The Gators came back to take the second set. A block by Walsh and Lewis broke a 22-22 tie and a kill by Walsh got the Gators to set point. A kill by Cizova made it 24-23, but a kill by Oswald gave the second set to the Gators.

 

Cal State L.A. came back to win the third set, closing it out on a kill by Mora, a block by Mora and Tuladhar and a service ace by Alexandra Risko.

 

The Golden Eagles then held leads of 17-9 and 20-13 in the fourth set before the Gators rallied. Back-to-back kills by Megan Larmour broke a 24-24 tie and extended the match to a fifth set.

 

An ace by Gay gave the Golden Eagles a 5-4 lead in the final set, but the Gators responded by scoring the next four points and never trailing again. The Golden Eagles pulled to within one at 11-10 after a kill by Mora and again at 13-12 after another kill by Mora, but the Gators got a block by Lewis and a block by Iris Tolenada and Lewis to complete their comeback win.

 

Cal State L.A. will return to action on Saturday night with a home match against Cal State Monterey Bay.