CARSON -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team responded to every challenge Saturday night to remain unbeaten through its first 11 matches.
The Golden Eagles, ranked No. 22 in the nation, survived a big challenge in the second set and went on to sweep Cal State Dominguez Hills, 25-17, 31-29, 25-22, in a California Collegiate Athletic Association match in the Torodome. Cal State LA (11-0, 3-0 CCAA) equaled the start of the 2005 squad that also opened its season with 11 straight wins.
After breezing to a win in the opening set, the Golden Eagles had to show some resilience to win the match in three sets against the Toros (5-6, 0-3 CCAA). There were 19 ties and seven lead changes in the final two frames. Cal State LA had to survive three set points before prevailing in the second set and the Golden Eagles had to weather a determined rally from the Toros in the third set that saw an 18-11 advantage trimmed to 22-21.
Karla Santos led a balanced Cal State LA attack with a match-high 13 kills and 12 digs, while
Daisy Crenshaw had 10 kills and a .316 hitting percentage.
Daisia LaBrie had nine kills and a .471 hitting percentage.
Daisy Portillo had eight kills and five digs and
Mickayla Sherman had seven kills and eight digs.
Tati Yandall had 11 kills to lead the Toros, while Riley Brown had seven kills.
Kelsey Molnar had 26 set assists and 11 digs, while
Bailey Anderson had 12 set assists and a key kill.
Cal State LA had a 48-30 advantage in kills and hit at a .238 percentage to .143 for the Toros. The Toros had a 6-3 edge in blocks. Both teams struggled from the serving line. The Golden Eagles had four aces and 15 errors, while the Toros had one ace and eight errors.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 13-6 lead in the opening set after an ace by
Jeshmarie Suarez and never looked back in an impressive beginning.
Things were much tougher in the second set, though, and Cal State LA faced early deficits of 10-6 and 14-10. The Toros still led, 19-16, before three consecutive kills by LaBrie evened the set at 19-19 and it was close the rest of the way. A kill by Crenshaw erased the Toros' first set point at 24-23 and a kill by Santos wiped out the second at 25-24. A block by LaBrie and Anderson saved the third set point at 26-25 and Cal State LA then needed four set points before finally ending the marathon set on kills by Crenshaw and Santos.
Cal State LA led for most of the third set and seemed to have things in control at 18-11 and 19-12. The Toros, though, roared back and got to within 22-21 before a kill by Santos stopped the run. The Toros again closed to within a point at 23-22, but a kill by Crenshaw and an attack error gave the Golden Eagles the win.
After playing their first 11 matches away from home, the Golden Eagles will play their home opener on Friday against Cal State Monterey Bay at 7 p.m.