SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team made sure the third time was indeed the charm Thursday night in the NCAA playoffs.

The Golden Eagles beat Cal Poly Pomona in four sets in an NCAA West Region first-round playoff match to record their first postseason victory since 2009. The win was particularly gratifying for the current group of seniors who suffered a pair of heartbreaking first-round defeats in 2018 and 2019. Their third trip to the NCAA Tournament was a winning one.

On this day, however, the Golden Eagles started quickly and never let up in a 25-23, 25-20, 27-29, 25-20 in Coussoulis Arena. Cal State LA (19-9), the No. 5 seed, was playing No. 4 seed Cal Poly Pomona (23-5) for the third time this season and the Golden Eagles won the season series, 2-1.

One of Cal State LA's seniors, Alejandra Negron, had a sensational match to lead the way. Negron had a career-high 23 kills and also had 15 digs. She hit at a .347 percentage.

Karla Santos also had a tremendous match and had 20 kills to go along with a team-high 18 digs. Emily Elliott also had a great match with 12 kills and 10 digs.

Jazminn Parrish and Daisy Duke had 16 kills each to lead the Broncos.

Eliza Cannon had 48 set assists and four kills, while Daisy Crenshaw, returning to the lineup after recovering from injury, had three kills and three blocks. Victoria Duarte had a team-high eight blocks and Jeshmarie Suarez had 17 digs and five set assists.

The first set was a back-and-forth frame before the Golden Eagles got kills from Negron and Santos to break a 23-23 tie and win the set.

Cal State LA jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the second set and increased the advantage to 16-10 following a kill by Elliott and to 18-11 after a kill by Santos and an attack error.

Cal Poly Pomona cut the margin to 23-20, but the Golden Eagles put the set away after kills by Cannon and Crenshaw.

Cal State LA jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead in the third set and held set points at 24-20 before Cal Poly Pomona battled back to tie it at 24-24. A kill by Elliott gave the Golden Eagles a fifth set point at 25-24 after a kill, but Cal Poly Pomona won the next two points to get to a set point. A kill by Negron and an attack error gave the Golden Eagles their sixth match point at 27-26, but the Broncos won the next three points to force a fourth set.

Cal State LA, though, weathered the storm and put the match away in the fourth set. A kill by Negron put the Golden Eagles ahead, 16-10. Cal Poly Pomona got to within 20-18, but two straight kills by Negron pushed the lead back to four. Cal Poly Pomona got to within 23-20, but a kill by Negron and a kill by Cannon ended the match.

Cal State LA will now face No. 1 seed Cal State San Bernardino in a regional semifinal match on Friday at 7:30 p.m. This will be the fourth meeting between the two CCAA schools this season.