ARCATA -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team picked up a win in its final road match of the 2016 regular season.
The Golden Eagles split the first two sets and then put away Humboldt State, 25-16, 19-25, 25-19, 25-19 in a California Collegiate Athletic Association match. Cal State LA (15-7, 11-3 CCAA) remained on the heels of South Division leading Cal State San Bernardino, which also won on Friday to improve to 10-2 in conference play. The Golden Eagles will play their final three regular-season matches at home.
Alma Serna had 13 kills and four blocks and
Lauren Gomez had 13 kills and 14 digs to lead a balanced offensive attack.
Taylor Kushner had 11 kills and 13 digs.
Symone Hayden had 14 kills and 15 digs for Humboldt State (10-12, 5-9 CCAA), while Nicole Bowley had 11 digs.
JamieAnn Bero had eight kills and four blocks,
Kelsey Molnar had 39 set assists and 13 digs and
Cynthia Giron had four service aces to go along with 11 digs.
The Golden Eagles used a big 9-0 run to close out a first-set victory. With the score tied at 16-16, a block by
Sifa Faaiu and Bero was followed by a pair of aces by Giron, a block by Kushner and Bero, a bad set, a kill by Kushner, an attack error, another ace by Giron and a kill by Gomez closed out the set.
The Golden Eagles fell behind 14-6 in the second set and never recovered as Humboldt State evened the match.
The Golden Eagles got a kill by Kushner, back-to-back kills by Serna and an attack error to erase an 8-6 deficit in the third set and led the rest of the way. Humboldt State got as close as 19-18 before kills by Kushner and Gomez pushed the lead to 21-18. A kill by Gomez, a pair of attack errors and another kill by Gomez ended the set.
Cal State LA took early control in the fourth set to close out the match. A kill by Serna, a bad set, a block by Serna and Molnar, kills by Serna and Gomez, a block by Serna and a kill by Serna broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Golden Eagles a 10-3 lead. Humboldt State closed to within 18-17, but a service error, an attack error, a kill by Serna and an ace by Gomez gave Cal State LA a 22-17 lead. A kill by Kushner made it 23-18, a kill by Gomez got the Golden Eagles to match point at 24-19 and an ace by Molnar ended the match.
Cal State LA will return to action next Friday with a home match against Cal State Dominguez Hills with a special start time of 6 p.m.