Golden Eagles Dig Their Win Over Pioneers

Next Match:

at Cal State San Marcos

10/2/2025 | 5 p.m.

Oct. 02 (Thu) / 5 p.m.

at Cal State San Marcos

History

LOS ANGELES — Cal State LA’s women’s volleyball team recorded its fourth straight California Collegiate Athletic Association victory on a day that senior Jameson Sanders reached an important career milestone.

Sanders reached 1,000 digs for her career and the Golden Eagles beat Cal State East Bay, 25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20 in University Gym on Saturday. Cal State LA (8-3, 4-0 CCAA) remains unbeaten through the first two weekends of conference play.

Sanders, who has earned All-CCAA honorable mention honors twice in her career while helping the Golden Eagles to back-to-back West Region championships and the 2023 national championship, became the 13th player in Cal State LA history to hit 1,000 digs.

On Saturday, she was part of a Cal State LA defense that held Cal State East Bay (5-7, 2-2 CCAA) to a .103 hitting percentage. The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, hit at a .203 clip.

Both teams were coming off five-set wins on Friday, with the Golden Eagles rallying from 2-1 set down to beat Cal State San Bernardino and the Pioneers erasing a 2-0 deficit to win at Cal State San Marcos.

Zuhal Cetin had a match-high 16 kills and 15 digs to lead three Golden Eagles in double figures. Ayjah Landers had 15 kills and Samarah DaCoud had 14 kills and a match-high 21 digs.

Fane Paua had 10 kills for Cal State East Bay, while Barakat Adekola had nine kills and 10 digs.

Arielle Chandler had 26 set assists and 11 digs for the Golden Eagles, while Madison Clark had a team-high five blocks to go along with three kills.

Cal State LA had a 57-44 advantage in kills and a 6-5 edge in blocks. The Golden Eagles had eight service aces and 10 errors, while the Pioneers had four aces and four errors.

Cal State LA started quickly and hit .419 while winning the opening set for only the fourth time in 11 matches. Chandler recorded three aces in a row to give the Golden Eagles a 14-9 lead and, after the Pioneers cut it to 18-16, a kill by DaCoud, two kills by Cetin and an attack error pushed the lead to 22-16. Cal State LA scored the final three points of the set on a kill by Cetin, an attack error and a kill by Mariana Alvarado, to win the opening frame.

Cal State LA rallied from an 11-7 deficit in the second set, but ultimately broke a 13-13 tie with a kill by Landers and a six-point serving run from Brooke Paige that gave the Golden Eagles a 20-13 lead. Cal State East Bay got as close as 23-21 before an attack error and an ace by Chandler closed out the set.

After the Pioneers took the third set, they hung tough in the fourth set as well. The Pioneers held a 15-14 lead before kills by Landers and Oluwatoyin Sunday and an ace by Landers gave the Golden Eagles an 18-16 lead. After the Pioneers tied it for a final time at 18-18, a kill by Cetin and a block by Alvarado and Sunday gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good. The Pioneers got to within 20-19, but a kill by Cetin and three Cal State East Bay attack errors got the Golden Eagles to match point and a kill by Landers ended the contest.

Cal State LA will return to action on Thursday with a match at Cal State San Marcos.

 

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