SEASIDE, Calif. -- Cal State L.A.'s women's volleyball team got its latest road trip off to a rocky start.
The Golden Eagles won the first two games, but then Cal State Monterey Bay came roaring back to stun Cal State L.A., 28-30, 14-30, 30-26, 30-24, 15-12 in a California Collegiate Athletic Association match Thursday night in Seaside. Cal State L.A. (10-5, 6-2 CCAA) slipped into third place in the conference and lost for the second time in three matches.
Cal State L.A., ranked 16th in the nation, got 23 kills from Bianca Gorospe and 20 kills and 22 digs from Lindsay Laakso. Cal State Monterey Bay (8-12, 5-3 CCAA) got 15 kills and 19 digs from Courtney Taubert and 12 kills and 12 digs from Brittany Etchings.
The Golden Eagles had a big edge in kills, 69-41, but also had 41 attack errors and hit at just a .147 percentage for the match. Cal State Monterey Bay held a 13-6 edge in blocks and had nine service aces to five for the Golden Eagles.
Keslie Brown had 30 set assists for the Golden Eagles, while Andrea Rodriguez had 27 set assists, two aces and 10 digs.
Cal State L.A. took the first game in narrow fashion, 30-28. The Golden Eagles had 16 kills in the frame, but also 14 errors and a .047 hitting percentage. A bad set by the Otters and a block by Laakso gave the Golden Eagles a 29-27 edge and a kill by Laakso gave Cal State L.A. the game.
The Golden Eagles were on fire in the second game, pounding down 18 kills with only one error for a .415 percentage. An ace by Rodriguez, a pair of kills by Airess Padda and a kill by Gorospe staked the Golden Eagles to a prompt 17-4 lead and the Golden Eagles cruised from there.
After the intermission, though, the match turned around. The Otters jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the third frame and went on to a 30-26 victory. It was more in the same in the fourth game as the Otters scored the first seven points, saw Cal State L.A. tie it up at 15-15 and then pulled away to even the match with a 30-24 win.
The fifth game was tight throughout. The Otters led, 3-1 and 6-4, but a kill by Padda and two kills by Laakso gave the Golden Eagles a 7-6 lead. Cal State L.A. then led by two points three times, at 9-7 after a Laakso kill, at 10-8 after a kill by Kristin Gorman and at 11-9 after a Cal State Monterey Bay attack error.
The Otters, though, tied it up at 11-11 and, after falling behind 12-11 on an attack error, scored the final four points of the match.
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Friday with a road match at Sonoma State.