LOS ANGELES, Calif. - After dropping the first set, the Central Washington volleyball team defeated the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles in four sets (22-25, 25-10, 25-12, 25-23) on Thursday night, bringing their record to 3-2.
 
CWU jumped out to a quick 6-4 lead thanks to two kills from Kylie Thorne and one from Ashley Kaufman. CSULA took six of the next seven points to take make the score 6-10. The Wildcats battled back and tied the set at 12-12 from another Thorne kill.
 
The teams stayed neck-and-neck until the Golden Eagles went on a three-point run at 16-19. They didn't relinquish the lead and held on to take the first set by a score of 22-25.
 
The 'Cats bounced back with conviction. They took an early 10-3 lead from kills by Alyssa Smith, Emma Daoud-Hebert and Marianna Payne.
 
The Golden Eagles couldn't muster anything together and the lead continue to grow. The score became 21-8 quickly. A block from Daoud-Hebert and Tia Andaya clinched the final point of the set for the Wildcats, 25-10.
 
"I liked our response in set two after losing set one. We stayed steady and kept playing hard," Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "LA had trouble with our serving for a bit which gave us some breathing room."
 
The Wildcats continued their offensive domination in the third set. Kills from Thorne, Daoud-Hebert and Kaufman had CWU ahead early, 8-2.
 
A ten-point run by the 'Cats made the lead 18-4. CSULA battled to 12 points in the set, but a kill from Thorne paired with a block by Payne and Daoud-Hebert ended the set, 25-12.
 
After CWU took an 8-5 to start the fourth set, CSULA went on a seven-point run to make the score 8-12. The 'Cats clawed back, bringing the score within one at 13-14, 16-17 and 20-21.
 
At 21-23, the Wildcats needed to go on a run to stop the match from going to the fifth set. And that's exactly what they did. Kaufman slammed back-to-back kills to tie the set at 23-23. A couple of CSULA attack errors clinched the winning points for CWU.
 
"After Nebraska we got some experience solving problems and experiencing letdowns," Andaya said. "I hoped the helped us train better this week and tonight I saw us stabilize after some mishaps so that was nice."
 
The 'Cats had a strong attacking percentage of .266% and held the Golden Eagles to .095%.
 
Thorne led all players in kills (13) and tallied three aces and 12 digs in her performance. Kaufman and Payne recorded nine kills each. Daoud-Hebert led all players in blocks (8). Sydney Remsberg logged 18 assists and seven digs. Hannah Stires recorded 12 digs and six assists. Andaya logged 16 assists.
 
"Kylie was a rock for us and Sydney ran a nice offense," Andaya said.
 
CWU (3-2) will take on Chaminade (3-4) at University Gym in Los Angeles at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Sept. 2.