LOS ANGELES – Cal State LA's women's volleyball team came up just a bit short in a marathon five-set battle with Cal State San Bernardino.
 
The Golden Eagles extended the match to a fifth set thanks to an extended win in the fourth frame, but the Coyotes held steady and outlasted Cal State LA, 19-25, 28-26, 25-21, 32-34, 15-11, Friday night in the Eagles Nest. Cal State LA (19-9, 11-8 CCAA) slipped into a tie for fifth in the conference with one regular-season match remaining.
 
Cal State San Bernardino (23-4, 16-3 CCAA) wrapped up second place in the CCAA and is locked into the No. 2 seed for next week's conference tournament. Cal State LA will finish with either the fifth or sixth seed.
 
Iona Lofrano recorded a career-high 28 kills and 22 digs in the match, while Lauren Gomez had 17 kills and 15 digs and Taylor Kushner had 15 kills and 20 digs.
 
Lauren Nicholson had 22 kills and 15 digs for Cal State San Bernardino, while Alexandra Torline had 19 kills and 17 digs. Malika O'Brien had 16 kills and five blocks.
 
Angela Thurmond had nine kills and four blocks and Kelsey Molnar had 66 set assists and 14 digs.
 
Cal State LA had a slim 77-75 edge in kills, while Cal State San Bernardino outhit the Golden Eagles, .257-.228. Cal State LA had an edge at the serving line, recording eight aces and three errors, while Cal State San Bernardino had four aces and nine errors. The Coyotes had an 11-8 edge in blocks.
 
Cal State LA missed a golden opportunity to grab a 2-0 lead in sets. After winning the opening frame, 25-19, the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the second set, but couldn't hang on.
 
This marks the second time this season that the Coyotes beat the Golden Eagles in five sets. Earlier, the Golden Eagles held a 2-0 lead in sets before the Coyotes stormed back to win the final three.
 
The Golden Eagles started quickly and opened up a 17-9 lead after a kill by Thurmond and an attack error. The Golden Eagles got to set point at 24-19 after an ace by Makayla Taylor and ended the set on a kill by Lofrano.
 
The Golden Eagles opened up a 17-9 lead in the second set as well after a kill by Lofrano, but the Coyotes hung in and eventually took a 24-23 lead after a kill by Solis. The Golden Eagles staved off a set point thanks to a service error, but a kill by Torline gave the Coyotes their second set point at 25-24. A kill by Lofrano evened the set again, but Torline delivered a kill to make it 26-25. A kill by Gomez made it 26-26, but another kill by Torline and an attack error gave the second set to the Coyotes and evened the match.
 
Cal State LA held an 18-16 lead in the third set, but the Coyotes scored six straight points to take control and kills by Kaitlyn Christner and Torline ultimately ended the set.
 
Cal State LA opened up an 18-12 lead in the fourth set following a kill by Gomez, but Cal State San Bernardino fought its way back once again. The Coyotes pulled to within 20-19 before Cal State LA got to set point at 24-20 after back-to-back kills by Kushner. The Coyotes, though, won five straight points on Torline's serve and got to match point at 25-24 before a kill by Kushner. The Golden Eagles got their first set point on a kill by Lofrano, but Nicholson evened it up at 26-26 with a kill.
 
The Golden Eagles staved off a second match point at 27-26 thanks to a kill by Thurmond and then held five set points before finally getting a kill by Kushner and an attack error to win the set.
 
Cal State San Bernardino jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the fifth set, but Cal State LA rallied to tie it at 9-9 after an ace by Cynthia Giron and a kill by Gomez. The set was tied again at 10-10 before the Coyotes won four straight points, including a block by O'Brien and Ashley Solis to get to match point at 14-10. The Golden Eagles fought off one match point thanks to a kill by Gomez, but a kill by Torline ended the match.
 
Cal State LA will conclude the regular season on Saturday night with a match against UC San Diego in the Eagles Nest. It will be senior night and the Golden Eagles will honor Lofrano, their only senior, in pregame ceremonies.