POMONA -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team saw its national championship reign and its two-year West Region championship reign end Thursday night in heartbreaking fashion.

The Golden Eagles, after forcing a fifth set in a nervy match against San Francisco State, opened up an 11-6 lead in the final frame, only to see the Gators storm back for a 25-16, 22-25, 26-24, 20-25, 16-14 win in the fourth of four quarterfinals in Kellogg Arena. 

The stunning finish meant the end of the best run in program history that saw the Golden Eagles claim back-to-back West Region championships for the first time and was highlighted by their first national championship in 2023.

It also meant the end of the best individual careers in program history. Emily Elliott, who set numerous single-season and career marks for not only the Golden Eagles, but also the California Collegiate Athletic Association. She had 25 kills and a remarkable 34 points in the five-set battle with the Gators. 

That pushed over 2,000 kills for her career, which is a CCAA record. She finishes with 2,011 kills and a remarkable 2,348.5 points. She entered the week leading the nation in points per set and was second in kills per set. 

She also added 71 aces this season, which gave her 189 for her career, another program record. She surpassed the record of 183 held by Kristy Sain since 2002.

Simply put, no one's done it better.

The result also meant the final match for another key cog in the national championship run, middle blocker Haley Roundtree, who had eight kills and three blocks in her finale. Roundtree finishes her career with 363 total blocks, which is No. 3 all-time, trailing only Marquis Mora and Caryn Sale.

San Francisco State (22-6) was led by Izzy Issak, who had 18 kills, Aidan Goodrich, who had 15 kills and Tamiya Wilson, who had 14 kills.

Samarah DaCoud had 12 kills for the Golden Eagles, while Zuhal Cetin had seven kills, six blocks and 14 digs. Jameson Sanders had a career-high 26 digs, while Ashlyn Beaver and Arielle Chandler combined for 36 set assists.

San Francisco State had a 59-54 edge in kills and outhit the Golden Eagles, .188-.148. Cal State LA had 14 aces and 13 serving errors, while the Gators had nine aces and 11 errors. Cal State LA had a 10-6.5 advantage in blocks.

After dropping the first set, the Golden Eagles faced a 20-18 deficit in the second set before a kill by Elliott gave her the serve and the Golden Eagles got a kill by Roundtree, two kills by Cetin and an ace from Elliott to take a 23-20 lead. After a service error, a kill by Roundtree and an attack error evened the match.

Cal State LA then had a golden opportunity to take a 2-1 lead, but couldn't hold on to a 23-21 advantage built on a 5-0 run that included a kill by Elliott, two straight aces by Brooke Paige, an attack error and a block by Havannah Vogel and Elliott. The Gators, though, evened it at 23-23 before a solo block by Cetin gave the Golden Eagles a set point at 24-23. The Gators, though, responded with three straight kills from Wilson to take the set.

Cal State LA scored the first five points of the fourth set and, after trailing briefly, took a 23-17 lead after another solo block by Cetin. The Golden Eagles got to set point after a block by Vogel and Cetin and took the set, 25-20, after a kill by Elliott.

The Golden Eagles then erased a 5-4 deficit in the fifth set with a 6-0 run behind a solo block by Vogel, a block by Vogel and Elliott, a kill by Elliott, an ace by Paige and two more kills by Elliott to make it 10-5. Another kill by Elliott made it 11-6 and the Golden Eagles appeared to be in control.

San Francisco State, though, responded with its own 6-0 run and took a 12-11 lead. The Gators then got to match point at 14-12 before a kill by Cetin and an attack error tied it at 14-14. An attack error and a kill by Goodrich gave the Gators the five-set win.

Cal State LA fell to 8-3 in 11 five-set matches this season.