LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team found the going tough in its first match as a nationally-ranked team since 2010.
 
The No. 25 Golden Eagles, who broke into the American Volleyball Coaches Association top-25 on Monday for the first time in five years, fell to Cal Poly Pomona in four sets, 25-18, 25-19, 13-25, 26-24 on Wednesday in the Eagles Nest. Cal State L.A. (10-2, 3-1 CCAA) lost for the first time in conference play and fell into a first-place tie with Cal Poly Pomona (7-5, 3-1 CCAA) and Chico State.
 
The Golden Eagles also lost for the first time at home this season.
 
Cal State L.A. fell into a big early hole and Cal Poly Pomona simply never let up. Even after the Golden Eagles climbed back into the match with a lopsided win in the third set, the Broncos steadied themselves and won the key points down the stretch.
 
Cal State L.A. was able to fight off two match points, but not a third in the fourth and final set.
 
Iona Lofrano had 22 kills, five digs and three blocks for the Golden Eagles, while Taylor Kushner had 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks.
 
Deanna Blaine and Kristen Hamlin had 13 kills each for the Broncos.
 
Kelsey Molnar had 29 set assists and 15 digs for the Golden Eagles, while JamieAnn Bero had six kills, three service aces and four blocks. Makayla Taylor had 13 digs and six assists, while Cynthia Giron had eight digs and a service ace.
 
Cal Poly Pomona had a 51-45 advantage in kills and hit at a .239 percentage to .202 for Cal State L.A. had an 8-7 edge in blocks and had seven service aces to five for the Broncos.
 
Cal State L.A. had an early lead in the opening set, but Cal Poly Pomona went on a big run to turn a 15-15 tie into a 25-18 win. The Broncos led for most of the second set and took a 2-0 lead before the Golden Eagles finally got untracked.
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 16-9 lead in the third set and five kills by Lofrano and an ace by Bero fueled a set-ending 6-0 run.
 
Cal State L.A. had its chances to send the match into a fifth set, but the Broncos hung tough. The Golden Eagles had leads of 12-7, 14-11 and 21-19, but a service error, a block by Hannah Harrer and a kill by Harrer gave the Broncos a 22-21 lead. A kill by Kushner tied it at 22-22, but a block by Stork and Hasen and a kill by Stork gave the Broncos two match points at 24-22.
 
A kill by Kushner made it 24-23 and an attack error tied it at 24-24, but Cal Poly Pomona got its third and final match point on a kill by Blaine and ended the match thanks to a Cal State L.A. attack error.
 
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Friday with a match at UC San Diego.