ROHNERT PARK -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team enjoyed quite an opening to California Collegiate Athletic Association play Thursday night at Sonoma State.

The Golden Eagles turned back a late Sonoma State rally in the opening set and then rolled to a 25-23, 25-15, 25-20 over the Seawolves in The Wolves Den. No. 14 Cal State LA (6-2, 1-0 CCAA), the 2023 NCAA Division II champions and two-time defending CCAA champions, got its conference title defense off to an impressive start.

All-American Emily Elliott, the CCAA Offensive Player of the Week last week, had a team-high 16 kills to lead the way, while newcomer Samarah DaCoud had 10 kills and four blocks. Arielle Chandler had 30 set assists and five digs.

Kaden Young, Jordyn Waite-Ward and Peyton McBride had seven kills each for Sonoma State (3-4, 0-1 CCAA).

Haley Roundtree had five kills in just eight swings and three blocks and Zuhal Cetin had five kills and a team-high 15 digs. Rachel Lowe had a career-high seven blocks to go along with kills.

Cal State LA had a 39-29 edge in kills and outhit the Seawolves, 271 -.081. The Golden Eagles also had a significant 12-4 advantage in blocks. The Golden Eagles had five aces and 11 serving errors, while the Seawolves had four aces and eight errors.

The Golden Eagles started well and appeared to have the first set well in hand with leads of 21-14, 22-15 and 24-18. The Seawolves, though, scored five straight points to pull within 24-23 before a kill from Elliott finally ended the set.

Cal State LA took that momentum and, after trailing early 7-6, broke open the second set. A 7-0 run behind the serving of Cetin opened up a 17-9 lead for the Golden Eagles and they never looked back. A solo block by Cetin got the Golden Eagles to set point at 24-13 and a kill by Elliott eventually ended the set.

Cal State LA put the match away with another solid set in the third. The Golden Eagles led for most of the set and got to match point after a kill by Roundtree made it 24-18. After the Seawolves staved off two match points, a service error ended it.

Cal State LA will return to action on Saturday with a match at Cal Poly Humboldt at 1 p.m. The Golden Eagles will then return home and play their home opener next Friday, Sept. 27, against Cal State San Marcos at 5 p.m.