SAN BERNARDINO – Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team dropped a hard-fought battle to Cal State San Bernardino Thursday night in a key California Collegiate Athletic Association match.
The Golden Eagles won the first set and came close to extending the contest to a deciding fifth set, but Cal State San Bernardino was able to close out a 23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 29-27 victory in Coussoulis Arena. The Golden Eagles fought off four match points in the fourth set before Cal State San Bernardino finally wrapped up the match on its fifth attempt.
Cal State L.A. (16-8, 14-7 CCAA) slipped into a tie for third place in the conference with a match at Humboldt State on Saturday remaining in the season. The Golden Eagles, who climbed into the NCAA Division II West Region rankings at No. 10, will likely need a win over No. 9 Humboldt State to have a shot at qualifying for the NCAA playoffs. The top eight teams in the region qualify.
It was a record-setting night for Cal State L.A. senior
April Reyes, who had a match-high 31 digs and became the Golden Eagles' all-time career digs leader. She now has 1,594 digs in her Cal State L.A. career and surpassed Jamie Griffin's old mark of 1,571.
Iona Lofrano had a match-high 21 kills and 12 digs, while
Kymberly Silveyra had 12 kills, 12 digs and five blocks.
Loreal Carter had 11 kills and two blocks and
JamieAnn Bero had eight kills and three blocks.
Tori May had 19 kills and seven blocks for Cal State San Bernardino (19-6, 16-5 CCAA). Alexandra Torline had 11 kills and Brenna McIntosh had 10 kills and four blocks.
Mia Alcaraz had seven blocks for Cal State L.A., while
Kelsey Molnar had 42 set assists, three service aces and two kills.
The Golden Eagles started well and won the opening set. The Golden Eagles held a 21-20 lead and then got a kill by Bero, a block by Alcaraz and Silveyra and an ace by Bero to open up a 24-20 lead. A kill by Silveyra ended the set after Cal State San Bernardino closed to within 24-23.
Cal State L.A. moved out to a 9-7 lead in the third set, but the Coyotes broke a 15-15 tie with a 4-0 run and never trailed again. Cal State L.A. pulled to within 24-22 after a kill by Lofrano, but a kill by Torline gave the Coyotes the set.
Cal State San Bernardino opened up a 21-12 lead in the fourth set, but Cal State L.A. rallied to make things extremely interesting. The Golden Eagles still trailed at 23-17 before a kill by Lofrano, an attack error, a kill by Carter, a service ace by Molnar, a block by Silveyra and Alcaraz and a kill by Lofrano tied the set at 23-23. The Golden Eagles staved off four match points thanks to a Cal State San Bernardino service error, a kill by Lofrano, another service error and a kill by Bero. At 27-27, though, the Golden Eagles had a service error and Torline's ace ended the match.
Cal State L.A. will conclude its regular season at Humboldt State on Saturday.
