POMONA -- Cal State LA women's volleyball team had a rough start Wednesday night in its California Collegiate Athletic Association match at Cal Poly Pomona, but the Golden Eagles certainly loved the finish.
The Golden Eagles erased a 10-8 deficit in the fifth set with a match-deciding 5-0 run and rallied for a 12-25, 25-23, 28-26, 17-25, 15-12 win over the Broncos in Kellogg Gym. Cal State LA (19-8, 11-7 CCAA) climbed into fourth place in a tightly-packed conference race. The Golden Eagles have already clinched a spot in the eight-team conference championship tournament, which will be held next week at UC San Diego, but tourney seedings are still up for grabs.
Iona Lofrano had another tremendous match for the Golden Eagles, posting a match-high 24 kills to go along with 14 digs. She came up big down the stretch, recording four kills after the Golden Eagles trailed 10-8 in the fifth.
Angela Thurmond had 11 kills and three blocks, including two solo blocks,
Lauren Gomez had 11 kills and two aces and
Taylor Kushner had 11 kills and was at the service line when the Golden Eagles made their match-deciding push.
Kristin Hamlin had 21 kills for Cal Poly Pomona (15-12, 11-8 CCAA), while Nicoletta Stork had 12 kills and Hannah Harrer had 11 kills.
Kelsey Molnar had 49 set assists and 10 digs,
Makayla Taylor had a team-high 19 digs and
Cynthia Giron had 13 digs.
Cal Poly Pomona had the edge in most statistical categories thanks to lopsided decisions in the first and third sets. The Broncos had a 68-63 advantage in kills and outhit the Golden Eagles, .264 - .211. The Broncos also had a 10-5 advantage in blocks and a 7-4 edge in service aces.
The match turned with the Broncos holding a 10-8 lead in the fifth. Lofrano got the rally started with a kill and a solo block by Thurmond tied it at 10-10. Another kill by Lofrano gave the Golden Eagles an 11-10 lead and a Cal Poly Pomona attack error made it 12-10. A kill by Thurmond extended the lead to 13-10 and a kill by Lofrano got the Golden Eagles to match point at 14-11. An attack error by Lofrano made it 14-12, but she delivered the kill that ended the match, 15-12.
The Golden Eagles dug themselves a big hole early. After losing the first set, 25-12, the Golden Eagles found themselves down, 8-2 in the second. A kill by Kushner gave the Golden Eagles their first lead at 14-13 and a block by Gomez and
Mia Alcaraz gave the Golden Eagles the second set.
Cal State LA also took the third set. The Golden Eagles were unable to hold an early 13-5 lead and ultimately had to fight off three set points. A Gomez kill tied the set at 24-24, a service error tied it at 25-25 and an attack error made it 26-26. The Golden Eagles then took the lead on a ball handling error and finished the set on a kill by Lofrano.
The Golden Eagles, though, dropped the fourth set, setting the stage for the dramatic finale.Cal State LA surrendered the first two points and never led until the Lofrano kill that made it 11-10.
Cal State LA will return to action on Friday with a home match against Cal State San Bernardino at 7 p.m.
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