GOLDEN, COLO – Cal State LA's women's volleyball team came up short against a pair of nationally-ranked opponents on Saturday in the final matches of the Oredigger Volleyball Classic.
 
The Golden Eagles started the day with a three-set loss to No. 13 Nebraska-Kearney, but gave a much better battle in a five-set loss to the tourney hosts. Cal State LA (1-3) opened the tournament with a win over Indianapolis on Thursday, but lost its final three matches.
 
Cal State LA held a lead against Colorado Mines (4-0) before the hosts roared back for a 23-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-15, 15-7 victory. Taylor Kushner had a career-high 18 kills to lead the Golden Eagles, while Daisy Portillo and Lauren Gomez had eight kills each.
 
JamieAnn Bero had a team-high seven blocks, while Kelsey Molnar had 34 set assists, eight digs and five blocks. Cynthia Giron had a career-high 24 digs.
 
Colorado Mines got 23 kills from Alanna Winfield and 14 kills from Ellie Monarch.
 
Colorado Mines had a 66-45 advantage in kills and hit at a .237 percentage to .150 for the Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles had a 10-9 edge in blocks. Colorado Mines had a big edge in serving, recording 10 aces to three for the Golden Eagles.
 
Cal State LA started the match well and took a quick 6-2 lead behind the serving of Molnar and Gomez. Colorado Mines battled back and tied the set at 16-16 before the Golden Eagles got a pair of kills from Gomez, an ace from Bero and a kill by Erie Williams to take the lead for good. Cal State LA got to set point after a kill by Portillo and ultimately won the set on a service error.
 
The second set was tied as late as 14-14 after a kill by Kushner, but Colorado Mines began to pull away. A kill by Alma Serna made it 20-17, but the Golden Eagles couldn't get any closer.
 
Cal State LA, though, bounced back in the third set and went on its best run of the night. After trailing 11-8, Cal State LA went on a 10-1 run capped by a kill by Serna to open up an 18-12 lead. Colorado Mines closed to within 20-19, but a kill by Kushner and an attack error stopped the run. Cal State LA eventually took the set on three attack errors, one coming on a block by Bero and Molnar.
 
Colorado Mines, though, steadily pulled away in the fourth set and scored the first nine points of the fifth set to take control of the match.
 
In their opening match on Saturday, the Golden Eagles fell to No. 13 Nebraska-Kearney, 25-13, 25-19, 25-12. Serna had a match-high 12 kills for the Golden Eagles, while Gomez had 10 kills. Cal State LA hit just .056 in the match.
 
Cal State LA will open another tournament next week in San Francisco beginning on Thursday against Chaminade.