LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team picked up a win it had to have Friday night with a big California Collegiate Athletic Association sweep over Cal State East Bay.

The No. 23 Golden Eagles maintained their hold on first place in the conference with an important 25-19, 25-20, 28-26 over the Pioneers in University Gym. Cal State LA (18-5, 13-2 CCAA) has a one-game lead over Cal State San Bernardino and a two-game lead over Cal Poly Pomona with three conference matches remaining. The Golden Eagles also kept the contending Pioneers (17-6, 10-5 CCAA) from moving to within one game of the lead.

Emily Elliott had 14 kills, four blocks and eight digs to lead a balanced Cal State LA attack, while Iane Henke had 12 kills, nine digs, two aces and two blocks. 

Kara Green had 11 kills and 11 digs for the Pioneers.

Shelby Grubbs had a team-high seven blocks, Jameson Sanders had a match-high 11 digs and three service aces and Jaden Grova had 17 set assists and a pair of digs.

Cal State LA had a 41-39 edge in kills and both teams had eight blocks. The Golden Eagles were efficient at the service line, recording seven aces and four errors to Cal State East Bay's five aces and nine errors. Cal State LA also had a slim edge in hitting percentage, .214-.211.

The Golden Eagles got off to a strong start in each of the first two sets. Cal State LA opened up a quick 5-1 lead following an ace by Sanders in the opening set and led 7-2 before the Pioneers stormed back to take a 10-8 lead. The set was tied at 11-11 before a service error, a block by Grubbs and Elliott and a kill by Henke put the Golden Eagles ahead, 14-11.

A kill by Dittmann and a block by Elliott and Grubbs gave the Golden Eagles a 17-12 lead and an ace by Dittmann gave the Golden Eagles a 21-16 advantage. Cal State LA got to set point at 24-18 after a kill by Henke and a block by Henke and Grubbs and closed out the set on a service error.

Cal State LA jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second set and never gave up the advantage. Grova served for all six points to get her team off to a quick start. Cal State East Bay pulled to within one point on several occasions, but the Golden Eagles responded each time. Kills by Elliott and Dittmann pushed the lead to 18-14 and a kill and ace by Elliott helped extend the lead to 21-16. A block by Eliza Cannon and Haley Roundtree and a kill by Elliott gave the Golden Eagles a 23-17 edge and, after the Pioneers cut it to 23-20, kills by Cannon and Henke ended the set.

Cal State LA opened up a 20-13 lead in the final set, but ultimately had to overcome a spirited rally by the Pioneers. Cal State East Bay got a pair of set points at 24-23 and 25-24, only to see Elliott save both with kills. A kill by Roundtree got the Golden Eagles to match point at 26-25, but a kill by Lexi Pagani evened it at 26-26.

Cal State LA, though, got the final two points on a service error and a kill by Henke to end the match.

Cal State LA will face Cal State San Marcos in the regular season home finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. on Senior Day. The Golden Eagles will honor Malia Apodaca, Allison Linder and Talia Niu in pre-match ceremonies.