BELLINGHAM, WA -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team had been perfect in five-set matches until Tuesday's opening match of the NCAA Division II West Regional at Western Washington.

After sending the first-round contest into a fifth-set with a dominating fourth-set performance, the Golden Eagles came up short and bowed out of the tournament with a 19-25, 25-20, 25-20, 12-15, 15-11 loss to Central Washington. Cal State LA (22-6) entered the tournament with a national ranking of 14 and was the No. 3 seed. Central Washington (23-5), the No. 6 seed was making its eighth straight trip to the NCAA playoffs.

The Golden Eagles, on the other hand, were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 and suffered a cruel end to one of the best seasons in a decade. Cal State LA's 22 wins were the most for the program since the 2009 team won 23 matches and advanced to the NCAA West Regional championship match.

Karla Santos, who earned All-West Region honors on Wednesday, had a match-high 24 kills for the Golden Eagles and also had 20 digs. Alejandra Negron had 14 kills and 20 digs, while Daisy Crenshaw had 12 kills and four blocks.

Madison Weg and Shelby Mauritson had 14 kills each for Central Washington.

Kelsey Molnar had 55 set assists, five kills, five service aces and 11 digs for the Golden Eagles, while Jeshmarie Suarez had 15 digs.

Cal State LA had a 66-52 advantage in kills and hit at a .213 percentage to .193 for Central Washington. The Wildcats had a 10-8 advantage in blocks. Cal State LA had 10 service aces and 11 errors, while Central Washington had three aces and four errors.

The Golden Eagles started the match well and took the opening set. Cal State LA led 21-18 before a kill by Santos and a block by Daisia LaBrie pushed the lead to 23-18. An attack error got the Golden Eagles to set point and a block by Negron and Crenshaw ended the set.

Cal State LA then dropped the next two sets, though, and needed a big performance in the fourth set to stay in the match. That's exactly what they got. A kill by Erianna Williams, a block by Williams and LaBrie and a kill by Santos gave the Golden Eagles a 10-4 advantage and they never looked back. Two kills by Santos, two aces by Molnar and a block by Williams and Crenshaw gave the Golden Eagles a 22-9 and Cal State LA eventually closed out the set with a kill by Negron.

Cal State LA led early in the fifth set, 2-1, but Central Washington scored the next three points and led the rest of the way. Cal State LA got within 8-7 after an ace by Janessa Mata and 9-8 after a kill by Negron, but the Golden Eagles never could pull even. A block by Williams and Crenshaw brought the Golden Eagles within 13-11, but the Wildcats scored the next two points to close out the match.