LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team started slowly, but turned things around to upend previously unbeaten Cal State Dominguez Hills in an entertaining California Collegiate Athletic Association match.
The Golden Eagles dropped the first set by a lopsided margin, but roared back for a 14-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 win in the conference opener for both programs Saturday in University Gym. Cal State LA (5-4, 1-0 CCAA) handed Cal State Dominguez Hills (7-1, 0-1 CCAA) its first loss of the season.
Daisy Crenshaw had a historic night for the Golden Eagles, recording the second-highest hitting percentage in program history. She had 13 kills in 17 attacks with no errors for a .765 percentage. The only player ever to hit at a higher percentage was Linda Saucedo, who had 15 kills in 19 attacks with no errors and a .789 percentage.
Julia Azevedo had 11 kills,
Karla Santos and
Alejandra Negron had eight kills each and
Daisy Portillo had seven kills.
Taylor Benitez-Fanslow had 10 kills and nine digs to lead the Toros.
Negron had a match-high 14 digs for the Golden Eagles, while Santos and
Jeshmarie Suarez had nine each.
Cal State LA had a 49-41 edge in kills and hit at a .241 percentage to .174 for the Toros. The match changed dramatically after the opening set, when the Toros hit at a .440 clip and the Golden Eagles hit at a -0.71 with nine errors and only seven kills.Â
Cal State LA had six service aces with nine errors, while Cal State Dominguez Hills had three aces with 10 errors. Cal State Dominguez Hills had an 11-8 edge in blocks.
After dropping the first set by a wide margin, the Golden Eagles evened things up in the second. Two kills by Negron and another by Azevedo helped the Golden Eagles take a 16-10 lead and a service ace by
Jessica Kaeka gave the Golden Eagles a 21-15 edge. A service error got the Golden Eagles to set point and a kill by Azevedo ended the set and evened the match.
Cal State LA burst to a big early lead in the third set after a kill by Crenshaw, a block by Crenshaw and Azevedo and a kill by Azevedo made it 15-8. A kill by Portillo and an ace by Negron made it 19-10. A kill by Santos, a block by
Victoria Duarte and Negron and a kill by Negron eventually wrapped up the set.
The fourth set was tied for a final time at 16-16 before a kill by Santos and a ball-handling error gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good. After the Toros made it 19-18, a kill by Azevedo and two straight kills by Negron pushed the lead to 22-18. The Toros made it 22-19, but back-to-back kills from Crenshaw and a kill by Negron ended the match.
Cal State LA will return to action next Saturday in a conference match at Cal State Monterey Bay.
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