SAN RAFAEL -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team put the finishing touches on a second straight outstanding tournament performance.
The Golden Eagles wrapped up play in the D2 West Region Showcase at Dominican with a 25-14, 25-14, 20-25, 25-18 win over Alaska Saturday afternoon. Cal State LA (8-0) opened the day with a four-set win over Concordia-Portland.
The 8-0 start for the Golden Eagles is the best since an 11-0 start by the 2005 Cal State LA team.
Mickayla Sherman had her best performance of the season to lead the win over Alaska. She had a season-high 22 kills, 15 digs and three service aces.
Daisy Portillo had 11 kills and two aces and a versatile
Kelsey Molnar had 10 kills in 14 attacks for a .714 hitting percentage.
Cal State LA had a 58-35 advantage in kills and an 8-7 edge in blocks. The Golden Eagles had nine aces and 11 errors.
Jade Horder had a season-high 41 digs and two aces.
The Golden Eagles breezed through the first two sets, but ran into some trouble and dropped the third frame. The Golden Eagles, though, scored three straight points to break a 6-6 tie in the fourth set and never looked back. A kill by
Daisy Crenshaw gave the Golden Eagles a 16-9 lead, a kill by Molnar made it 19-11 edge and a kill by Sherman gave the Golden Eagles a match point at 24-17. An attack error ended the match.
Earlier in the day, the Golden Eagles survived a major scare from Concordia Portland and came away with a 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 25-21 victory.
Daisy Portillo recorded a career-high 14 kills to lead three Golden Eagles in double figures against Concordia (2-4). She also added a pair of service aces.
Daisy Crenshaw had a season-high 12 digs and two blocks and hit at a .364 percentage.
Mickayla Sherman had 11 kills and 10 digs.
Cal State LA had a 55-39 edge in kills and hit at a .184 percentage to .113 for Concordia. The Cavaliers had a 10-6 advantage in blocks. Cal State LA had nine service aces, but also 16 service errors. Concordia had seven aces and seven errors.
Jeshmarie Suarez had a career-high 35 digs in the match for the Golden Eagles. The 35 digs are No. 3 all-time in a match and the most for a Cal State LA player since 1998.
Kelsey Molnar had 19 set assists and three aces, Horder had 14 set assists and
Bailey Anderson had 12.
Daisia LaBrie had nine kills, three blocks and two aces.
After splitting the first two sets, the Golden Eagles recorded close wins in the final two frames to pull out the victory. The Golden Eagles fell behind 14-10 in the third set, but used a 5-0 run to erase a 16-13 deficit. Cal State LA trailed for the final time at 21-20, but a kill by Sherman and back-to-back aces by LaBrie put the Golden Eagles ahead, 23-21. The Golden Eagles got to set point on a service error and a block by Crenshaw closed out the set.
The Golden Eagles trailed as late as 15-13 in the fourth set, but a block by LaBrie and Molnar and back-to-back aces by Molnar were part of a 6-0 run that put the Golden Eagles ahead for good. A kill by Sherman gave the Golden Eagles a 23-18 lead and a kill by Crenshaw got the Golden Eagles to match point. A kill by Sherman ended the match.
After the match later Saturday against Alaska, the Golden Eagles will open California Collegiate Athletic Association play at Cal State East Bay next Friday.