BELLINGHAM, WA -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team took it to the extreme once again in its first of two matches Saturday at the Western Washington Invitational and then fell in a tough battle with the tourney hosts in the second.

The Golden Eagles, after dominating play in the second and third sets to take the lead, found themselves extended into a fifth set in a tight 21-25, 25-9, 25-12, 22-25, 15-8 victory over Simon Fraser. Cal State LA jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the fifth and deciding set and went on to claim the important region win. The Golden Eagles (2-2) then battled well against No. 3 Western Washington in the finale, but fell by scores of 25-20, 25-21, 26-24 in a rematch of last year's NCAA Division II West Regional championship finalists.

Emily Elliott had a tremendous match for the Golden Eagles against Simon Fraser with 26 kills, four service aces, two blocks and eight digs. The 26 kills are the second-most for Elliott, who had 30 kills last season in a five-set win against Drury. The talented sophomore had 31 points in the win over Simon Fraser (1-2).

Iane Henke had 16 kills, three aces and four blocks, while Ashley Dittmann had 13 kills, three blocks and nine digs.

Jocelyn Sherman and Brooke Dexter had nine kills each to lead Simon Fraser.

Eliza Cannon had 43 set assists and three kills for the Golden Eagles, while Haley Roundtree had four kills and a team-high five blocks.

Cal State LA had a 66-38 advantage in kills and hit at a .288 clip to .138 for Simon Fraser. The Golden Eagles also had a 10-8 edge in blocks. Cal State LA had nine service aces with eight errors, while Simon Fraser had six aces and 10 errors.

After dropping the first set, Cal State LA appeared to take command of the match with lopsided wins in the second and third sets. The Golden Eagles opened up leads of 8-1 and 10-2 in the second set and won going away. Elliott accounted for the final three points of the set with a pair of kills and an ace.

Cal State LA broke open the third set with a 10-1 run that got the Golden Eagles to set point at 24-11. After Simon Fraser fought off the first set point, a kill by Henke finished the set.

Cal State LA, though, was unable to close out the match in four sets despite scoring the first six points of the frame behind the serving of Cannon. Simon Fraser fought back to tie it at 12-12 and the teams were tied for a final time at 21-21 after a kill by Shelby Grubbs. Simon Fraser, though, scored the next three points to get to set point and eventually evened the match.

Cal State LA scored the first four points of the final set behind the serving of Henke and opened up six-point leads at 8-2 and 9-3. Simon Fraser pulled to within 9-5, but kills by Henke and Cannon pushed the lead back to 11-5. After Simon Fraser got to within 12-8, the Golden Eagles got kills from Henke and Roundtree and an attack error to close out the match.

In the tourney finale, Dittman led the way with 11 kills, eight digs and one aces, while Elliott had nine kills, seven digs and one ace. Ayjah Landers added six kills.

Gabby Gunterman had 11 kills to lead Western Washington (4-0).

Cannon had 25 set assists and three kills for the Golden Eagles.

Cal State LA had a 37-33 edge in kills, but was done in by 26 attack errors to only 12 for the Vikings. The Golden Eagles had a 9-7 advantage in aces and was edged, 5-4, in blocks.

Cal State LA started slowly and fell into a quick 5-0 hole before getting on the board with a Dittman kill. Cal State LA pulled to within 11-9 after kills by Elliott and Cannon, but Western Washington went on a 5-0 run to restore its advantage. Cal State LA never could pull closer than four points the rest of the set.

The Golden Eagles played better in the second set and led as late as 18-17 after kills by Dittmann and Landers. A kill by Landers later tied it at 19-19, but Western Washington scored the next three points and protected its advantage.

Cal State LA battled brilliantly in the third set, taking a 22-21 lead on a kill by Zuhal Cetin. After Western Washington scored the next three points to get to match point, the Golden Eagles got a kill by Cetin and an ace by Cannon to tie it at 24-24 before Western Washington picked up the final two points to close out the match.

Cal State LA will return to action on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the opening match of the three-day Cal State LA Invitational.