BELMONT, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay volleyball team fell on the opening night of the season in heartbreaking fashion with a five-set defeat on the road at the hands of Notre Dame de Namur Thursday evening.

The match was the opener of the sixth annual Route 92 Showdown, a season-opening tournament that the Pioneers and Argonauts co-host. East Bay's remaining three contests in the event will be back home at Pioneer Gym.

It was an extremely tight, back-and-forth affair between the two squads on Thursday. They split the first two sets by identical scores of 25-23. East Bay appeared to grab momentum in the match with a decisive 25-14 victory in game three, taking a 2-1 advantage behind a red-hot Kiki Leuteneker.

After another tight set in the fourth, the Pioneers held a 23-21 lead late in the frame. But the home team rallied to force extra points, then pulled off a 26-24 win to extend the match to a fifth game.

The Argonauts then pulled away midway through the final set to seal the victory on the back of senior Bianca Alvarez, who last year ranked among the national leaders in kills. CSUEB had a tough time defending Alvarez, as she tallied six kills in the fifth frame and led all players with 22 for the match.

Leuteneker racked up 19 kills to lead the Pioneers in the 2017 opener. Fellow juniors Julie Navarro and Kathy McKiernan notched 10 kills each, with McKiernan pacing the squad with a .429 hitting percentage.

Junior setter Katie Ireland finished with 38 assists, while newcomer Audrey Lamoureux added 13 off the bench. 

Defensively, Ireland also tied for the team lead with 19 digs. She was matched by sophomore newcomer Lindsey Ray, who posted eight kills to go along with her 19 scoops. Senior libero Brandi Brucato contributed 12 digs as well.

Junior Deja Thompson scored nine kills and led the team with five total blocks, although the Second Team All-CCAA honoree hit just .074 for the match. As a team, East Bay finished with a .174 attack percentage and they were out-hit by NDNU in every set except the third, in which the Pioneers posted a .280 percentage.

CSUEB will look to get in the win column Friday when the team heads back across the Bay for the second day of the Route 92 Showdown. East Bay has a pair of contests on its Friday slate, taking on Holy Names at 1 p.m., followed by Dominican in the nightcap at 7 p.m.