Box Score

SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team played another five-set match in its NCAA Division II West Region playoff opener.

This time, though, the Golden Eagles did not like the ending.

For the fifth straight year, the Golden Eagles found itself in a first-round match taking five sets to decide, only this time Cal State L.A. wound up on the short end. No. 2 seed Seattle Pacific climbed out of a 2-1 deficit and beat the Golden Eagles, 25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-6 Thursday in Coussoulis Arena. Cal State L.A., the No. 7 seed, concludes its season with a 16-11 record.

Cal State L.A. was making its seventh straight appearance in the NCAA playoffs and the Golden Eagles had a string of reaching at least the regional semi-finals snapped at five.

Seattle Pacific (25-2) advances to face No. 3 seed Western Washington Friday in one semi-final.

Cal State L.A. had its chances and had the Falcons on the ropes. The Golden Eagles came on late to win the third set and then moved out to a 14-9 lead in the fourth set. The Falcons, though, responded with a 13-5 run to take a 23-19 lead and then held off a late Cal State L.A. spurt to send the match to a fifth set.

Seattle Pacific jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the final set and Cal State L.A. was unable to recover.

The Falcons had a 62-55 advantage in kills and a 7-6 edge in service aces. The Golden Eagles had a 12-9 advantage in blocks, while Seattle Pacific hit at a .223 percentage to .184 for the Golden Eagles.

Marquis Mora had 13 kills and seven blocks to lead the Golden Eagles, while Chelsea Hamilton also had 13 kills and two blocks. Zuzana Cizova had 12 kills and 17 digs, while Natalia Gonzalez had 12 kills and one block.

Nikki Lowell had 17 kills and a .406 hitting percentage to lead the Falcons, while Sarah Risser had 16 kills. Lindsey Wodrich had 12 kills and Paige Hoffman had 10 kills for Seattle Pacific.

Each of the first sets were close and could have gone either way. Cal State L.A. had a 21-20 lead in the first set and the frame was tied at 23-23 before Seattle Pacific got kills from Lowell and Risser to take a 1-0 lead.

The Golden Eagles responded with a sensational second set to even the match. A kill by Mora gave Cal State L.A. a 16-7 lead and, after Seattle Pacific rallied to make it 23-20, back-to-back kills by Cizova closed out the set.

Cal State L.A. was also solid in a tightly-played third set. Seattle Pacific took a 20-18 lead, but Cal State L.A. went on a run fueled by back-to-back kills by Gonzalez that put the Golden Eagles ahead, 23-21. Another kill by Gonzalez got the Golden Eagles to set point at 24-22 and Mora's kill gave them the set, 25-23.

The Golden Eagles started well in the fourth set as well and scored six straight points to take a 13-6 lead after a block by Cizova and Mary Laupepa. The Falcons began chipping away at the lead and eventually took a 20-18 lead after an ace by Shelby Swanson. The Golden Eagles then rallied and made it 22-22 after a kill by Hamilton and tied it again at 23-23 after a kill by Gonzalez. Seattle Pacific won the next two points, though, to even the match.

The Falcons finally took control of the match in the opening stages of the fifth set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead and never looking back. Back-to-back service aces by Swanson gave the Falcons a 14-5 lead and a kill by Risser closed out the match.

The match was the final one for seniors Zuzana Cizova, Stefanie Gay, Amrita Tuladhar and Kassie Faulkner.