Golden Eagles Rally To Win Tourney Finale

Next Match:

at Cal Poly Humboldt

9/18/2025 | 7 p.m.

Sep. 18 (Thu) / 7 p.m.

at Cal Poly Humboldt

History

LOS ANGELES — After a challenging first two matches in their own tournament, Cal State LA’s women’s volleyball team saved its best for last on Saturday to close out the tourney.

The Golden Eagles rallied from a 2-1 deficit and beat California Collegiate Athletic Association foe Cal Poly Pomona in a thriller, 25-27, 25-20, 18-25, 25-16, 15-13, in the last match of the Cal State LA Invitational in University Gym. Cal State LA (4-3) salvaged one win in the three-day tournament and they did against a team they will meet again later this season in conference play.

Simon Fraser beat Colorado Mesa, 3-1, earlier on Saturday to complete the tourney with a 3-0 record. Cal State LA, Cal Poly Pomona and Colorado Mesa were all 1-2.

Simon Fraser’s Natalie Lemoine-Sells was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammate Eva Person, Colorado Mesa’s Sadie Scoville, Cal Poly Pomona’s Sarah Ybarra and Cal State LA’s Samarah DaCoud.

DaCoud had a career-high 31 kills to lead the Golden Eagles past the Broncos in an exciting match. She also had 14 digs and hit at a .366 clip. Ayjah Landers had 13 kills and four blocks and hit at a .323 percentage.

Ybarra had 23 kills and 26 digs for the Broncos (2-4), while Elle Walker had 16 kills and Charlotte Koeber had 12 kills.

Zuhal Cetin had a team-high 20 digs and seven kills for the Golden Eagles, while Madison Clark had six kills and five blocks and Havannah Vogel had four kills and six blocks.

DaCoud’s 31 kills and 34 points are both career highs. Her previous high for kills was 19, achieved in a five-set win over Chaminade last week. Her previous high for points was 23, also against Chaminade. She has reached double-digit kills in all seven Cal State LA matches this season.

Cal State LA had a 68-64 edge in kills and a 12-8 advantage in blocks. The Golden Eagles outhit the Broncos, .244-.188. Cal State LA had two aces and seven service errors, while Cal Poly Pomona had eight aces and nine errors.

The Golden Eagles held a 24-21 lead in the opening set, but the Broncos fought off four set points, the final one at 25-24 on a block by Anastacia Garza and Ybarra, and scored the last three points to prevail, 27-25.

Cal State LA evened the match in the second. The Golden Eagles trailed 19-18, but scored six straight points to get to set point. Kills by Clark and Cetin, three attack errors and a bad set gave Cal State LA a 24-19 edge and the Golden Eagles closed out the set with a kill by Cetin.

After dropping the third set, Cal State LA evened the match again by taking the fourth frame. The Golden Eagles opened up a 20-11 lead after a kill by Vogel and a 22-12 lead after a kill by DaCoud and an ace by DaCoud. The Broncos got to within 23-16, but kills by Clark and Landers sent the match into a fifth set.

The fifth set was a tight one throughout with neither team able to build a lead larger than two points. The Broncos held an 11-9 lead, but a kill by DaCoud, a block by Vogel and Landers, an attack error and a kill by DaCoud gave the Golden Eagles a 13-11 advantage. The Broncos tied it at 13-13, but the Golden Eagles got a kill by DaCoud and an attack error to complete the win.

Cal State LA will open CCAA play on Thursday with a road match at Cal Poly Humboldt.