SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team, the 2023 NCAA Division II national champions, overcame a stern test from a PacWest Conference contender and got its 2024 season off to a winning start on Thursday.

The Golden Eagles came out firing with a tremendous start, buckled a bit in the second set and then prevailed in two hard-fought sets to overcome Biola, 25-11, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23, in their first of four matches in the Yotes Classic Showcase.

All-American Emily Elliott led the way with 17 kills and four aces, while Samarah DaCoud had 12 kills. Elliott, the star of the national championship tournament last season, just missed a double-double with nine digs. She closed out the match with a service ace.

Haley Roundtree had six kills and a .600 hitting percentage, while Zuhal Cetin had a team-high 11 digs and six kills and Jameson Sanders had 10 digs.

Payton Tully had nine kills and two blocks for Biola (0-1), while Kendall Vandertuig had eight kills and three blocks.

Martinaya Dornic had 15 set assists and three digs for Cal State LA, while Ashlyn Beaver had 11 set assists.

Cal State LA had a 45-32 edge in kills and hit at a .205 percentage to .077 for the Eagles. Biola had a 7-5 edge in blocks, while the Golden Eagles held a 49-48 edge in digs.

Cal State LA had six aces and 20 service errors, while Biola had three aces and 14 service errors.

The Golden Eagles got off to a blazing start hit .550 in the opening set with 11 kills on 20 attacks with no errors. After leading 9-6, the Golden Eagles went on a 14-2 run to open up a 23-8 lead. Elliott had back-to-back aces to punctuate the run.

Things changed in the second set, though, and the Golden Eagles hit at -0.36 clip and Biola took advantage to even the match. Cal State LA fell into an 11-5 hole, battled back to make it 13-12, 14-13 and 15-14, only to see Biola score seven straight points to take a 22-14 edge and ultimately close out the set.

The Golden Eagles trailed 17-16 in the third set and didn't take the lead for good until a couple of Biola miscues gave them a 22-20 lead. After a service error made it 22-21, the Golden Eagles scored the next three points on a service error and kills by Roundtree and DaCoud.

The fourth set was also close as the Golden Eagles trailed as late as 21-20. Kills by Elliott and DaCoud made it 22-21, but Biola tied it twice after that at 22-22 and 23-23 before a kill by DaCoud and a booming ace by Elliott ended the match.

Cal State LA will play two nationally-ranked teams on Friday, beginning with a contest against No. 19 Seattle Pacific at noon and No. 12 Chaminade at 5 p.m. The Golden Eagles will complete the tournament with a match against No. 10 St. Cloud State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.