SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team was unable to get untracked in a battle of nationally-ranked opponents Saturday night at Cal State San Bernardino.
The Golden Eagles, one night removed from a big win over No. 17 Cal Poly Pomona on Friday that gave them a two-game lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, fell to No. 15 Cal State San Bernardino, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21 in the Den. No. 24 Cal State LA (17-5, 12-2 CCAA) still leads the conference by one game over Cal State San Bernardino (17-4, 11-3 CCAA) and Cal Poly Pomona with four matches remaining.
Cal State LA saw its seven-match unbeaten streak come to an end and lost for just the second time in its last 17 matches.
Emily Elliott had a match-high 17 kills and hit at a .387 percentage to lead the Golden Eagles, but she was the only one to reach double figures in kills.
Ashley Dittmann had eight kills and one ace and
Zuhal Cetin had six kills in seven swings for a hitting percentage of .857.
Ashley Robinson had 13 kills for Cal State San Bernardino, while Lydia Morohunfola had 11 kills and Savannah Hoffman had nine.
Jaden Grova had 22 set assists for the Golden Eagles, while
Jameson Sanders had eight digs and one ace.
Cal State San Bernardino had a 44-41 edge in kills and outhit the Golden Eagles, .356 - .260. The Coyotes also had a 7-3 edge in blocks and a 6-2 advantage in service aces.
Cal State LA had only one lead in the opening set, at 1-0, after a kill by
Haley Roundtree. The Golden Eagles, though, quickly fell into a 9-3 deficit and were unable to recover. Cal State LA made a strong run to slice a 19-12 deficit to 20-18 after back-to-back kills from Dittmann, but that's as close as the Golden Eagles would get. Cal State LA got to within 23-21 after an attack error, but the Coyotes scored the final two points to close out the set.
The Golden Eagles led 4-2 early in the second set after back-to-back kills by Elliott and held a 7-5 edge after another kill by Elliott, but they couldn't maintain their advantage. The set was tied for a final time at 13-13, but Cal State San Bernardino scored the next three points and led the rest of the way.  A kill by Dittmann cut the deficit to 23-21, but, again, the Coyotes scored the final two points to take the set.
Cal State LA never led in the final set and, after evening the frame at 4-4 on a kill by
Iane Henke, the Coyotes went on a 6-0 run to take a 10-4 lead. The Golden Eagles tried to rally and got to within 21-17 after two kills from Elliott and one from Cetin, but the Coyotes scored the next two points to regain their edge. The Golden Eagles fought off two match points, the second after a kill
Ayjah Landers, but the Coyotes cashed in on the third to end the match.
Cal State LA will return to action on Friday with a big home match against Cal State East Bay at 5 p.m.
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