SAN FRANCISCO -- The Cal State East Bay volleyball team's 2017 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament run ended Friday night at SF State with a hard-fought five-set loss to defending conference champion Cal State San Bernardino.

The Pioneers rallied back from down 2-1 in the match to force a fifth set, then nearly erased a six-point deficit in that final frame before coming up just short of their upset bid. East Bay finishes the season with a record of 18-11, while the Coyotes advance to play Chico State in Saturday's title match.

CSUEB had built much of its success on five-set matches this season. Nearly half of the team's contests have extended to five sets, but tonight marks just their third defeat as the Pioneers finish with a 10-3 record in such contests.

Despite the loss, junior Deja Thompson turned in yet another dominant effort in the middle, perhaps her most impressive of the season. The First Team All-CCAA honoree posted season highs with 22 kills and 10 total blocks, and led all players in the match with a .500 hitting percentage.

Senior Brandi Brucato racked up 28 digs in her final career match and was one of three Pioneers to reach double figures. It's the highest total of the season for the East Bay libero, who will graduate with 1,422 career digs, second-most in school history.

The Coyotes out-hit the Pioneers .279 to .209 in a match that saw momentum changed hands several times. East Bay finished with a 12-4 advantage in total blocks, but it wasn't enough to overcome the attacking prowess of CCAA Player of the Year Laruen Nicholson (31 kills) and Alexis Cardoza (22 kills). 

Last season when CSUEB earned its first-ever trip to their CCAA Tournament, the team was quickly ousted by these same Coyotes with a first-round sweep. It was clear for the first serve that tonight was not going to be the same. The Pioneers fell behind 16-10 in the opening frame before rallying back to tie the score. Both teams had multiple chances as set point before an attack error by Cardoza and a kill by Julie Navarro gave East Bay a 29-27 win.

San Bernardino bounced back to win the second set handily, then grabbed a 2-1 advantage in the match by squeaking out a 25-22 victory in the crucial third set.

Game four was also tight, but things appeared bleak for East Bay when the Coyotes took a 20-16 lead late in the set. However, the Pioneers showed tremendous resiliency and refused to let their season end that easily. They quickly won three straight points to force a timeout, and closed the set on a 9-3 run to extend their season.

The Pioneers nearly pulled off an even more impressive comeback in the final frame. The teams switched sides with CSUSB ahead 8-5, then the Coyotes quickly stretched it out to 12-6. East Bay mounted one final rally, rattling off five straight points to draw within one. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get any closer, as Nicholson scored a kill and a service ace on back-to-back plays to clinch the win for San Bernardino.

Kiki Leuteneker matched a season high with 20 kills in the loss. She finishes her junior season with 913 kills, putting her 320 away from the school record heading into 2018.

Kathy McKiernan added seven kills, while Navarro and Lindsey Ray contributed five each. Ray also matched her season high with 20 digs. Setter Katie Ireland finished with 47 assists and 13 digs in the loss.