LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team got its 2015 season off to a strong start with a pair of opening-day wins at its own tournament.
The Golden Eagles beat West Region foe Dixie State in three sets in their opener and then fought off Lewis in a four-set battle in the evening at the Cal State L.A. Invitational. In other matches, Dixie State beat Seattle Pacific in three sets, Seattle Pacific beat Molloy in three sets and Lewis beat Molloy in four sets.
The Golden Eagles found themselves in quite a battle against Lewis before holding on for a 25-13, 25-16, 19-25, 26-24 win in the Eagles Nest. Cal State L.A. had a 24-22 lead in the fourth set, but ultimately needed a pair of attack errors by Lewis to pull out the match.
Taylor Kushner had an outstanding match, pounding down a match-high 17 points with a hitting percentage of .652.
Iona Lofrano had 15 kills and seven digs, while
JamieAnn Bero and
Lauren Gomez had 11 kills each.
Alexis Davito had 12 kills to lead Lewis. Aly Schneider added nine kills and five blocks.
Kelsey Molnar had 42 set assists for the Golden Eagles, while
Sydney Kralj added 10 with six digs.
Chloe Clancy had a team-high 14 digs.
The Golden Eagles bolted out to a 2-0 lead after wins of 25-13 and 25-16 in the first two sets. Lewis, though, won the third set and moved out to a 21-19 lead in the fourth set. Kills by Molnar and Kushner tied it at 21-21 and kills by Lofrano and Kushner got the Golden Eagles to 24-22. A kill by Schneider and a block by McKenna Pierson and Schneider tied it at 24-24 before Cal State L.A. won the final two rallies of the match on hitting errors.
In their opening match, the Golden Eagles beat Dixie State, 25-21, 25-15, 25-18. Lofrano had a match-high 13 kills and four digs, while Bero had nine kills and one block and Gomez had eight kills.
Ally Sassman had an efficient match with five kills in seven swings for a hitting percentage of .714.
Clancy led the Golden Eagles with 14 digs, while Molnar had 17 set assists and
Sydney Kralj had 14.
The two-day tournament will conclude on Saturday with matches beginning at 9 a.m.
