Los Angeles, CA --- The Cal State Dominguez Hills volleyball team played with great control and energy as they fought hard with No. 21 Cal State L.A. in the opening game of 2008 CCAA competition. Remaining undefeated after the night, CSULA was nonetheless made aware of the Toros skill, including Madison Horsley, who led with 6 kills & 10 digs, and Ashley Clark who also came in with 6 kills.
Remaining only a few points behind through nearly the entirety of set one the Toros proved they have what it takes to compete in the toughest NCAA DII volleyball conference in the country. When a kill from Clark off the hands of Cassidy Mangum brought deadlocked set one at 18-18, it appeared the Toros could take one from the Golden Eagles. However, three attack errors and additional kills propelled the Eagles to a 25-18 win.
Taking an early lead in set two and holding it for the first portion of the set was not enough for a win as the Toros fell behind after their highest lead of 8-7. Quick service aces and kills brought CSULA's lead to an unbreakable 16-10. Back-to-back kills from TaMesha Jefferson and Heather Rushton seemed to give some energy to the Toros as they moved to 20-15, but the Eagles would take the set at 25-19.
It seemed that the losses in sets one and two took their toll on the Toros as they quickly fell to an unrecoverable deficit in set three and could not follow through on enough attacks to gain a lead. Two 3-point streaks gave movement to CSUDH's offense, but the set quickly ended at a score of 25-13.
The Toros were led by Horsley who added 6 kills and 10 digs to her season marks. Clark gained another 6 kills while Mangum assisted with 12 sets.
CSUDH (1-8, 0-1 CCAA) will next face No. 15 UC San Diego on the road this Saturday as they continue CCAA conference play. First serve is at 7:00pm.
