Box Score HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay volleyball team lost a tough match to visiting Cal State Los Angeles in five sets on Thursday night (18-25, 17-25, 25-13, 25-21, 15-9). The Pioneers (8-13, 3-11 CCAA) were hitting on all cylinders early and took a 2-0 lead, but the Golden Eagles (10-11, 8-6 CCAA) came storming back to win the last three frames. East Bay has now dropped both its 2012 matches to Cal State LA, making tomorrow night's showdown with Cal State Dominguez Hills all the more crucial.

It was a tale of two matches tonight, or at least two halves of a match – one that the Pioneers dominated, and another in which they had no answer for the Golden Eagle attackers. Coming off a grueling, emotional win last Saturday, the Pioneers were sharp in the first two sets tonight, posting team attack percentages of .317 and .348. Suzy Ni Xu and Samantha Bruno had success attacking for East Bay, and they were able to hold Cal State LA to under .200 hitting in both sets.

Momentum shifted drastically in the third set, however. With the Pioneers already trailing, Xu fell awkwardly after a block attempt and left the match with a knee injury. Fans at Pioneer Gym applauded as she was helped off the court, but the East Bay faithful had little to cheer about the rest of the night. The Pioneers' leading scorer was having a solid night, hitting .400 with eight kills. After her departure, the team began to struggle fundamentally.

The Golden Eagles hit a staggering .483 in the third set and cruised to a victory behind five kills from Kymberly Silveyra. They refused to go quietly in the fourth set, as well, forcing the Pioneers into nine attack errors. East Bay mounted a late comeback, but despite 12 assists from Samantha Siebert and five kills apiece from Hannah Bell and Nikki Long, Cal State LA hung on to even the match.

It was 8-6 when the teams traded sides in the fifth set, but from that point the Golden Eagles pulled away. Former Pioneer Jit Athwal notched five kills as Cal State LA completed the comeback. For the match, the Golden Eagles outhit East Bay .232 to .208. They also dominated at the net defensively, totaling 11 team blocks to the Pioneers' four.

The Pioneers had three players with double-digit kills, as Long, Bruno, and Bell each recorded 11. Bruno led all players with a .529 hitting percentage and added two blocks. Bell committed just two errors and was third on the team with 16 digs. Nicole Boyle added nine kills and racked up 21 digs, but the senior hit just .100 for the match.

Pioneer libero Veronica Sanchez led all players with 33 total digs to go along with four assists. The setters, Siebert and Danielle Stewart, notched 30 and 18 assists, respectively, with Siebert adding eight digs. Freshman Angie Maina also saw some court time and contributed eight scoops of her own.

The Pioneers did a nice job keeping in check Cal State LA's leading scorer and two-time CCAA Player of the Week Marquis Mora, who hit just .200 with 13 kills. Instead, Athwal led the way for Cal State LA, hitting .312 with 17 kills. Two Golden Eagles turned in double-doubles, as Silveyra posted 14 kills and 15 digs and setter Alexandra Bura had 42 assists to go with 12 digs.

Friday night, Cal State East Bay welcomes the Toros of Cal State Dominguez Hills into Pioneer Gym. They'll look to avoid a weekend sweep on “Dig Pink” night. Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness, and Pioneer Athletics will raffle off pink volleyballs signed by the East Bay team as well as a Pink Ribbon t-shirt. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.