Box Score Hayward, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay volleyball team dropped another heartbreaker Friday night, losing in five sets for the second straight match (25-22, 24-26, 26-24, 17-25, 15-12). Each set against Cal Poly Pomona was a tight, back-and-forth affair, and the Pioneers fought hard to force a fifth set. But despite playing in front of a good home crowd, Cal State East Bay (5-7, 0-5 CCAA) was unable to come out on top. The loss leaves the Pioneers still in search of their first conference win.

Statistically, the match was extremely tight: Cal State East Bay hit .197 to Cal Poly Pomona's .198. The Pioneers actually bested their opponents in team kills (73-62), digs (116 to 106), assists (71 to 61), and blocks (9 to 8). However, Easy Bay committed nine more attack errors and four more receiving errors than the Broncos, which may have made the difference in the narrow defeat.

Senior Nicole Boyle turned in one of her best matches of the season, leading the way with 21 kills and adding 21 digs. Junior Suzy Ni Xu had an impressive night offensively as well, posting 19 kills and a .378 attack percentage. Junior Hannah Bell added a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore libero Veronica Sanchez notched 37 digs and seven assists and had a solid night behind the service line, serving for several Pioneer runs. Junior Samantha Siebert and senior Danielle Stewart split time evenly as the setter. Siebert turned in 33 assists and 19 digs, while Stewart totaled 26 assists and 16 digs. Sophomore Samantha Bruno contributed eight kills to go along with four total blocks.

For Cal Poly Pomona (7-6, 3-3 CCAA), it was the team's third conference road win already this season. Taylr Kreutziger led the Broncos with 15 kills. Jessica Stork and Diana Lake racked up 14 kills apiece, with Lake adding 19 digs. Libero Kelly Bonja filled up the scoresheet with 34 digs, four service aces, and four assists. Cal Poly Pomona's attack percentage decreased progressively in each set of the match, but the team was able to outhit Cal State East Bay in all three of its set victories.

The Pioneers played well in the first set, with Boyle and Xu combining for 11 kills without an error. Neither team was able to sustain any kind of run, but the Broncos took advantage of a few errors and grabbed the crucial first set 25-22. The Pioneers came back and eeked out a must-win second set in extra points behind solid efforts from Boyle and Bell.

East Bay had a chance to take control of the match in the third set, but they submitted their worst performance of the night, hitting .088 with eight attack errors. The Pioneers erased an eraly deficit and still had a legitimate chance to steal the set, but ultimately came up short 26-24. Xu was impressive on offense, but the rest of the Pioneer attackers were unable to get anything going.

Cal State East Bay came back with a vengeance in the fourth set and extended the match with a decisive 25-17 win. For the set, they outhit the Broncos .356 to .159 and posted five team blocks. Xu, Boyle, and Bell combined for 13 kills with just one error, allowing the home crowd to reach its loudest point of the evening. The Pioneers couldn't sustain that momentum into the final set, however. They struggled offensively, hitting just .069, and couldn't contain the Broncos' Lake, who submitted three kills and five digs. Cal Poly Pomona led throughout the fifth set and hung on for a 15-12 win to take the match.

The Pioneers have a quick turnaround and are back in action tomorrow night. They'll host Humboldt State in Pioneer Gym at 7 p.m. in hopes of notching their first CCAA win of the season.