POMONA -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team came up short Friday night in a battle of nationally-ranked opponents in Kellogg Arena.

The No. 23 Golden Eagles, the defending California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season champions never could get untracked and fell to the No. 20 Broncos, the defending CCAA Tournament champions, 25-20, 25-21, 25-13. Cal State LA (4-7, 2-1 CCAA) fell from the ranks of the conference unbeatens, while the No. 18 Broncos (10-1, 3-0 CCAA) are one of three teams tied atop the conference standings.

Not much went right for the Golden Eagles on Friday. Cal Poly Pomona enjoyed a 40-27 advantage in kills over the three sets and outhit Cal State LA, .268 - .056. The Golden Eagles had 22 hitting errors in the three sets. The Broncos also had an 8-6 edge in blocks and had six service aces to only two for the Golden Eagles.

Emily Elliott had 11 kills, one ace and three blocks for the Golden Eagles. Ashley Dittmann had seven kills and six digs.

Samantha Campion had a match-high 18 kills for the Broncos, while Madison Novak had seven kills. Caitie Mueller had 29 set assists and two aces.

Iane Henke had four kills and six digs for the Golden Eagles, while Haley Roundtree had a team-high four blocks. Jaden Grova and Eliza Cannon combined for 15 set assists.

The Golden Eagles surrendered the first four points of the match and found themselves in an uphill battle the rest of the way. A service ace by Rebecca Topete got the Golden Eagles to within 9-8, but the Broncos scored the next three points to increase their lead. Cal Poly Pomona increased its edge to six points and still had a 21-16 lead before back-to-back kills from Henke and an attack error got the Golden Eagles to within 21-19. That's as close as the Golden Eagles would get.

The Golden Eagles had a quick 3-1 lead in the second set after an ace by Elliott and a 4-2 lead after a kill by Elliott, but the Broncos scored the next four points and never trailed again. Cal State LA tied it at 15-15 after blocks by Elliott and Cannon and by Roundtree and Henke, but the Broncos responded by scoring the next four points and led the of the set.

The Golden Eagles fell into a 9-1 hole in the third set and never recovered, They showed some spark with a 6-0 run to trim a 12-3 deficit to 12-9 after a block by Roundtree and Henke, but that was as close as they would get.

Cal State LA will return to action on Saturday with a road match at Cal State San Marcos at 3 p.m.,