BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team turned in an outstanding performance at an important time and is advancing in the NCAA Division II West Regional.

The Golden Eagles, the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season champions, overcame a few wobbly moments in the second set and finished strongly in a  25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 25-13 victory over Sonoma State Thursday at WECU Court at Carver Gym. No. 3 seed Cal State LA (22-6) was able to avenge a five-set loss to the No. 6 Seawolves (21-9) last week at the CCAA Tournament.

Cal State LA advances to the semifinals on Friday and will meet No. 7 seed Central Washington at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats beat host and No. 2 seed Western Washington in four sets to cap a long day of volleyball in Carver Gym. In the first two matches of the way, No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona beat No. 5 Cal State San Bernardino in five sets and No. 8 Chaminade upset No. 1 seed Alaska Anchorage, also in five sets.

Emily Elliott was sensational in Cal State LA's win and had a match-high 19 kills, two aces, two blocks and 11 digs. Iane Henke had 13 kills, one ace and four blocks, while Ashley Dittmann had nine kills, three blocks and 10 digs.

Kiana Richardson had 13 kills for the Seawolves, while Jaden Krist had 10 kills.

Haley Roundtree had six kills and six blocks, Jameson Sanders had 13 digs and one ace, Jaden Grova had 19 assists and two aces and Eliza Cannon had 18 set assists and one kill.

Cal State LA had a 53-42 advantage in kills and outhit the Seawolves, 271 - .182. Both teams had 10 blocks. Cal State LA had seven aces and eight errors, while Sonoma State had six aces and 12 errors. The match was a departure from last week's CCAA Tournament match when the Seawolves threw the Golden Eagles off stride with strong serves. On Thursday, it was the Golden Eagles who had the edge at the service line.

Cal State LA started well and opened up a 13-6 lead after kills by Elliott and Henke and built a 17-9 advantage after a block by Shelby Grubbs and Dittmann. A kill by Elliott got the Golden Eagles to set point at 23-15, and, after Sonoma State scored four points in a row, Elliott closed out the set with another kill.

After dropping the second set, Cal State LA had to overcome some challenges before taking control in the third set. Cal State LA trailed as late as 8-7 before a kill by Roundtree, an attack error, an ace by Grova and another attack error gave the Golden Eagles an 11-8 lead. Sonoma State tied it at 11-11, but the Golden Eagles scored the next three points on a pair of Elliott kills and a Sonoma State attack error. 

A kill by Henke pushed the lead to 19-15, a block by Cannon and Roundtree and a kill by Henke extended the advantage to 21-17 and two kills by Elliott gave the Golden Eagles a 23-19 lead. Sonoma State got as close as 24-22, but an attack error ended the set.

Cal State LA put it all together in the fourth set and won going away. Henke served the Golden Eagles to a 4-0 lead before Sonoma State scored five straight points to take the lead and the Golden Eagles trailed 6-5 before going on an 8-0 run that put them in the driver's seat. Elliott had a key role in the run, delivering a kill to get the serve and then serving for seven straight points, including an ace that made it 13-6. A block by Henke and Grubbs extended the lead to 16-7 and a block by Henke and Roundtree gave the Golden Eagles a 10-point lead at 18-8.

Back-to-back kills by Roundtree made it 20-9 and kills by Dittmann and Grubbs ultimately ended the match.

After enduring first-round exits in three straight NCAA appearances in 2010, 2018 and 2019, the Golden Eagles have now reached the semifinals in two straight years. Cal State LA reached the tournament regional final in 2021.