SAN FRANCISCO – Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team saw its weekend trip to Northern California get off to a bumpy start.
The Golden Eagles won the first set, but couldn't slow San Francisco State after that and the Gators rallied for a 21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20 victory in a California Collegiate Athletic Association match at Main Gym.
Cal State L.A. (11-5, 4-4 CCAA) lost for the fourth time in its last five matches. San Francisco State (5-8, 3-3) evened its conference record with the victory.
Iona Lofrano had a match-high 22 kills and nine digs for the Golden Eagles, while
JamieAnn Bero had nine kills and two blocks and
Lauren Gomez had eight kills.
Makayla Taylor and
Chloe Clancy had 14 digs each.
Taylor Brownlee had 21 kills for the Gators, while Jaclyn Clark added 19 kills and Samantha Krakower had 11 kills.
San Francisco State hit at a .340 percentage, including a .436 clip in the fourth set. Cal State L.A. hit .203 for the match, including .306 in the final frame. San Francisco State had a 64-50 advantage in kills and a 6-4 edge in blocks. Both teams had four aces, while San Francisco State had 12 serving errors to six for the Golden Eagles.
The first set was tied as late as 20-20 before a kill by
Angela Thurmond, an ace by
Kelsey Molnar, another kill by Thurmond and a block by Thurmond and
Taylor Kushner got the Golden Eagles to set point at 24-20. A San Francisco State attack error ended the set.
The Golden Eagles never could sustain any momentum after the first-set victory. The Golden Eagles took a 13-11 lead in the second set after a kill by Lofrano and were still tied at 16-16 before the Gators scored three straight points and never looked back.
The Golden Eagles got a kill by Gomez and two straight kills from Lofrano to open up a 5-2 lead early in the third set, but that advantage didn't last long. The Gators stormed out to an 18-12 lead and kept the Golden Eagles at arm's length for the rest of the set.
San Francisco State took a quick 11-5 lead in the fourth set and Cal State L.A. never recovered.
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Saturday with a match at Cal State East Bay.
