LOS ANGELES -- Facing a must-win situation, Cal State LA's women's volleyball team turned in one of its best performances of the season.

The Golden Eagles rebounded nicely from an opening-set loss and rallied past Cal State San Marcos, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23 Friday in University Gym. Cal State LA (13-11, 9-7 CCAA) remains in a tie for fourth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association South Division, one game clear of Cal Poly Pomona and one game back of Saturday's opponent, UC San Diego.

Karla Santos had a brilliant match for the Golden Eagles, recording a match-high 20 kills with a .364 hitting percentage. She also had 17 digs. Daisia LaBrie had 14 kills and one block, while Matanofo Keil had 12 kills.

Micah Hebert had 10 kills to lead Cal State San Marcos (14-10, 11-5 CCAA), which sits in second in the South Division and has clinched a spot in the tournament.

Jeshmarie Suarez had a match-high 24 digs for the Golden Eagles, while Nicole Efseaff had 39 set assists and six digs.

Cal State LA had a 62-46 edge in kills and hit at a .210 percentage to .187 for the Cougars. Cal State San Marcos had a 7-3 edge in blocks. Cal State LA had three serve aces and 10 service errors.

After dropping the first set, Cal State LA began to get untracked in the second. A strong serving run by Caitlyn Bato, including an ace, gave the Golden Eagles a 13-7 lead. Cal State San Marcos fought back to tie it, but with the score 16-16, the Golden Eagles got kills from Keil, La Brie and Alejandra Negron and never looked back. A kill by Daisy Crenshaw got the Golden Eagles to set point at 24-19 and a kill by Santos ended the set.

Cal State LA fell behind, 13-9, in the third set, but stormed back to regain control. The Golden Eagles still trailed, 16-14, but kills by LaBrie and Santos tied it and an ace by Sifa Faaiu gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good. A kill by LaBrie made it 18-16. Cal State LA led 22-20 before back-to-back kills by Keil and another kill by Faaiu ended the set.

The fourth set saw great swings of momentum. Cal State LA had a 13-9 lead, only to see Cal State San Marcos fight back to take a 17-15 lead. The set was tied at 19-19, 20-20 and 21-21 before a kill by Santos gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good. Another kill by Santos got the Golden Eagles to match point at 24-22 and, after a service error made it 24-23, Crenshaw had the final kill to end the match.

Cal State LA will conclude its regular season on Saturday with a home match against UC San Diego. It will also be Senior Night and the Golden Eagles will honor Nicole Efseaff, Sifa Faaiu and Cynthia Giron in prematch ceremonies.