SEASIDE -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team survived a major battle with an upset-minded Cal State Monterey Bay squad Saturday in California Collegiate Athletic Association action in the Kelp Bed.
The Golden Eagles (6-4, 2-0 CCAA) rallied from a 2-1 deficit and edged the Otters, 22-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-10, 15-13.
Karla Santos led the Golden Eagles with 22 kills, including four late in the fifth and deciding set with the match hanging in the balance. The Golden Eagles trailed, 12-11, in the fifth before a pair of Santos kills put them ahead, 13-12. After the Otters (5-7, 1-4 CCAA) tied it at 13-13, Santos delivered kills on the final two points to give the Golden Eagles the hard-earned victory.
Santos also had 16 digs for the Golden Eagles and hit at a .333 percentage in a tremendous effort.
Mickayla Sherman had 14 kills, while
Julia Azevedo had 13 kills.
Daisy Crenshaw, the reigning CCAA Player of the Week, had 11 kills in 16 swings for a sensational hitting percentage of .688.
Laisa Maeda had 34 set assists and eight digs.
Cal State LA had a 73-48 edge in kills and hit at a .381 percentage to .241 for the Otters. The Golden Eagles had six service aces, but 18 errors, while the Otters had 11 aces and eight errors.Â
After dropping the first set, the Golden Eagles had to come up big late in the second set to even the match. Cal State LA jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but the Otters pulled to within 20-19 before back-to-back kills by Santos pushed the lead to 22-19. Another Santos kill and a kill by
Shelby Grubbs got the Golden Eagles to set point and a kill by Sherman evened the match.
Cal State LA fell behind once again after falling in the third set, 25-17, but the Golden Eagles jumped out to a big early lead and cruised to a 25-10 win in the fourth to extend the match.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the fifth set, but the Otters rallied again to take a 12-11 lead before Santos took over and led Cal State LA to victory.
Cal State LA will return to action on Tuesday with a home match against Cal State San Marcos.
