ROHNERT PARK – Cal State LA's women's volleyball team kept its momentum going on the road Friday night in a big win over the defending California Collegiate Athletic Association champions.
The Golden Eagles, in their first match since beating Cal State San Bernardino last Saturday, upended Sonoma State, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 Friday night in The Wolves' Den. Cal State LA (8-5, 4-1 CCAA) won its third straight match and its fourth in five CCAA contests.
JamieAnn Bero led a balanced Cal State LA attack with 14 kills, while
Taylor Kushner added 12 kills and
Alma Serna had 10 kills and seven blocks.
Caiti Wiesner had 13 kills to lead Sonoma State (4-7, 2-2 CCAA), while Emily Papale had 11 kills and Kelsey McIntire had 10.
Kelsey Molnar had 44 set assists, 12 digs and three service aces, while
Cynthia Giron had a team-high 19 digs.
Sifa Faaiu had nine kills and 10 digs, while
Lauren Gomez had eight kills and 17 digs.
Cal State LA had a 56-51 advantage in kills and an 8-7 edge in blocks. The Golden Eagles also had seven aces with nine service errors, while the Seawolves had two aces and seven errors.
After dropping the opening set, the Golden Eagles stormed back to even things up in the second. Cal State LA took a quick 15-7 lead after a kill by Faaiu and an ace by Molnar. The Seawolves pulled to within 22-18, but kills by Bero, Kushner and Gomez closed out the set.
Cal State LA started quickly in the third set and had to withstand a Sonoma State rally. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 14-7 lead after a kill by Molnar and had a 22-16 lead after a kill by Gomez. Sonoma State got as close as 24-22, but a kill by Bero ended the set.
Cal State LA then put the match away with a hard-fought win in the fourth set. The Golden Eagles trailed for most of the set and were down 23-21 before scoring the final four points of the match. Kills by Faaiu, Kushner and Bero put the Golden Eagles ahead at 24-23 and, after a Sonoma State timeout, a kill by Kushner ended the match.
Cal State LA will return to action on Saturday with a road match at San Francisco State.
