SAN DIEGO -- Cal State LA's volleyball team made its long-awaited return Thursday night and the Golden Eagles got plenty of work in during a five-set victory over host Point Loma on the opening day of the Seaside Invitational.
The Golden Eagles got a huge match from returning All-American
Karla Santos and outlasted the hosts, 17-25, 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10 in Golden Gymnasium. Santos had a match-high 22 kills and 15 digs and had back-to-back kills in the fifth set to push the Golden Eagles to match point. She hit at a .365 hitting percentage.
Emily Elliott added 15 kills and eight digs in her Cal State LA debut, while another freshman,
Jaden Grova, had 49 set assists and five digs.
Another newcomer,
Ashley Dittmann, had 11 kills and 20 digs.
Shelby Grubbs had a team-high five blocks to go along with seven kills.
Jeshmarie Suarez had 22 digs.Â
Cal State LA, after a slow start, had a 63-49 advantage in kills and hit at a .252 clip to .179 for Point Loma. The Golden Eagles struggled from the service line, committing 18 service errors to just four aces, while Point Loma had nine aces and 12 errors.Â
The Golden Eagles dropped the first set, but made a nice rally in the second set to even the match. Cal State LA stormed back from a 19-14 deficit to tie it at 19-19 and eventually got to a set point at 24-23 following a kill by Elliott. After Point Loma tied it at 24-24, a kill by Dittmann and a block by
Daisy Crenshaw and Grova gave the Golden Eagles the set.
Cal State LA took the third set, but Point Loma regrouped to win the fourth and send the match to a fifth frame.
A kill by Santos broke a 4-4 tie and the Golden Eagles led the rest of the way. Holding a 10-9 lead, kills by Santos and Grubbs gave the Golden Eagles a 12-9 advantage. Point Loma closed to within 12-10, but Santos delivered back-to-back kills to make it 14-10 and a block by Grubbs and Santos ended the match.
Cal State LA will return to action on Friday with a pair of matches, the first against Simon Fraser of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the second against Azusa Pacific of the PacWest Conference.
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