SEATTLE, WASH. - After an emphatic and eye-opening win over Gannon in a national quarterfinals match on Thursday, Cal State LA's women's volleyball team has a chance to make history this evening in a Final Four matchup with perennial power Concordia-St. Paul.

The Golden Eagles (25-6) became the third team in program history to reach the national semifinals and can become the first to reach the finals with a win tonight. The Cal State LA-Concordia-St. Paul contest will be the second of two semifinals on Friday in Seattle Pacific's Royal Brougham Pavilion. In the first match, No. 3 seed West Texas A&M will meet No. 7 seed Missouri-St. Louis at 4 p.m. 

No. 4 seed Cal State LA's showdown with No. 1 seed Concordia-St. Paul is set for a 6:30 p.m. start. The championship match will be held on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Cal State LA's stunningly-effective 25-11, 25-14, 25-18 win over No. 5 seed Gannon on Thursday has to rank as the most dominant post-season victory in program history. Emily Elliott led the way with an incredible performance, collecting 20 kills, six aces and 26.5 points in three extraordinary sets. The second-team AVCA All-American definitely opened a lot of eyes after that showing and the Golden Eagles were nearly flawless in all aspects of their game - serving, passing, blocking and attacking.

It's the first three-set sweep in the national championships in program history under the current scoring format and second overall. In 1992, when teams could only score while serving and sets went to 15, Cal State LA swept North Dakota State, 15-7, 15-5, 15-10 in the quarterfinals. In 2005, Cal State LA went five sets to defeat Lock Haven, 30-32, 30-28, 30-17, 25-30, 15-13 in the quarterfinals.

Concordia-St. Paul followed Cal State LA's outstanding performance with a dominating showing as well on Thursday, sweeping past No. 8 seed Southern New Hampshire, 25-19, 25-23, 25-11. The Golden Bears are ranked No. 3 in the nation.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. While Cal State LA is rewriting history and searching for its first national championship, Concordia-St. Paul is looking to add to its unmatched record in NCAA Division II volleyball. The Golden Bears have a record nine national championships and are 30-2 in Elite Eight matchups, including 28 wins in a row dating back to 2006. Concordia-St. Paul won seven straight titles from 2007-13 and won its last two in back-to-back fashion in 2016-17.

Cal State LA looks to continue its incredible postseason run that has seen the Golden Eagles post three consecutive sweeps while advancing to the Final Four. Since splitting the first two sets in a four-set win over Sonoma State in the opening round of the West Regional, the Golden Eagles have won 11 straight sets.

In the four postseason matches thus far, Elliott has 69 kills in 13 sets and is averaging 5.31 kills per set. She also has 13 aces and has accumulated 85 points or 6.54 points per set.

As a team, the Golden Eagles are averaging 13.46 kills per set and hitting at a robust .281 percentage, which speaks to the high level of play Cal State LA has achieved in the postseason. Iane Henke has 42 kills and is hitting at a .305 clip and Ashley Dittmann has 31 kills and is hitting .239. 

Cal State LA has recorded 37 service aces to 24 errors, compared to the opponents' 20 aces and 33 errors. Elliott leads the way with 13 aces, while Dittmann has recorded eight and Henke and Jameson Sanders have recorded six each.

Cal State LA's blocking has also been a big factor and the Golden Eagles are out-blocking their opponents, 35-22 in the four matches. Haley Roundtree has 21 total blocks, while Henke has 14 and Shelby Grubbs has 13.

Defensively, Cal State LA has limited its opponents to a .148 hitting percentage and has 200 digs in the four matches, or 15.38 per set. Sanders leads the way with 45, while Dittmann has 42, Henke has 39 and Elliott has 30. Setters Eliza Cannon and Jaden Grova have combined for 126 set assists and 35 digs and Grova has chipped in with four kills and four aces and Cannon has five kills.

Add it all up and Cal State LA rides into Friday's showdown playing its best volleyball of the season.