CHICO -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team wrapped up a championship-caliber regular season with a four-set California Collegiate Athletic Association win at Chico State Saturday afternoon and then had a reason to celebrate even more Saturday evening.
The Golden Eagles' victory, combined with Cal State San Bernardino's five-set loss to Sonoma State, lifted them to a share of their second straight conference regular-season championship. Cal State LA (17-9, 15-3 CCAA) and Cal State San Bernardino (22-4, 15-3 CCAA) share the conference title. The Golden Eagles were traveling back from Chico when the final point was secured by the Seawolves, prompting an impromptu celebration.
Cal State LA earned the fifth regular-season title in program history and the first back-to-back championships since 1999-2000. Ironically, one of those was a co-championship and the other a solo title as well. In 1999, Cal State LA shared the conference title with Cal State Bakersfield and then won it with an undefeated season in 2000.Â
The Golden Eagles did their part early Saturday afternoon with a 25-15, 21-25, 25-18, 25-16 over the Wildcats in Acker Gym.
Emily Elliott had a match-high 19 kills, two aces and nine digs for the Golden Eagles, while
Iane Henke had 14 kills, four aces and 16 digs.
Ashley Dittmann had 13 kills and five digs.
Zoe DiNardo had 11 kills for Chico State (6-16, 3-15 CCAA), while Cassidy Herbert had 10 kills.
Haley Roundtree had four kills and four blocks for the Golden Eagles, while
Eliza Cannon,
Jaden Grova and
Arielle Chandler combined for 40 set assists.
Cal State LA had a 53-38 advantage in kills and hit at a .302 percentage while limiting Chico State to a .116 hitting percentage.
The Golden Eagles had nine service aces and 14 errors, while the Wildcats had four aces and 10 errors. Both teams had five blocks.
Cal State LA got off to a strong start and won the opening set after building leads of 18-8 and 21-10. A kill by Cannon and an ace by
Zuhal Cetin closed out the frame.
The Golden Eagles then led for most on the second set and seemed to have things under control after a kill by Henke gave them a 21-18 lead. Chico State, though, stunned the Golden Eagles by scoring the last seven points of the set to even the match.
Cal State LA regained control in the third set, leading most of the way and scoring four straight points to extend a 19-17 lead to 23-17.
Brooke Paige had two straight aces to complete the run. After a service error, kills by Roundtree and Henke ended the set.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 19-12 lead after kills by Elliott and Henke after got their final three points on kills by Dittmann, Henke and Elliott.
Cal State LA will return to action on Friday in the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament in University Gym. The Golden Eagles are the No. 2 seed for the tourney and will face the winner of the San Francisco State-Cal State San Marcos first-round match on Thursday.
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