CARSON – Though a 3-1 setback to Cal State East Bay doesn't seem pleasant, the Cal State Dominguez Hills volleyball team did have a reason to celebrate Saturday night at the Torodome as the Toros honors its senior class.
 
Before first serve, the Toros held a ceremony for seniors Hannah Reynoso, Angelina Cabal, Jenna Sandall, Macy Kirkwood, Rylee Brown.
 
The Toros fall to 5-18 overall and 3-13 in the CCAA. The Pioneers, perhaps the surprise team in the CCAA, move a step closer to clinching a spot to the CCAA Tournament with a 11-5 conference record. They improve to 18-6 overall.
 
Shelby Saporetti had a career-night on the floor, recording 16 kills. Ava Hurry had 13 while Sandall recorded 11 in both kills and digs for a double-double.
 
Cabal also finished with a double-double of 27 assists and 23 digs.
 
The Toros ended the night hitting .185 on the attack while the Pioneers had a 27.2 percent performance. Errors certainly factored in the match as the Toros committed 24 attacking errors comparing to the Pioneers 10.
 
Both teams kept the score very close in the opening set. After East Bay capitalized on an attack error to take a 21-20 lead, the Toros got kills from Hurry, Cabal, Royal and Saporetti and an attack error to take the 25-22 set win.
 
Tied at five to start the second set, the Pioneers went on a 6-2 run after to take control of the bout.
 
The third set looked promising for the Toros, opening up with a 7-3 lead. The two sides traded off sideouts until the Pioneers got a 5-1 run to tie the game at 10. Down by one, the Toros took a 5-point run to take a 19-15 lead. It was short lived as East Bay scored six straight points on five straight Toro errors to take a 21-19 lead. It remained close until East Bay's Lexi Pagani got two kills in three serves to secure the set win for the Pioneers.
 
The Toros got the first two points to start the fourth set, but the Pioneers rallied to take a 10-3 lead and never looked back. The Toros did get within 18-15 but couldn't make the leap.
 
Dominguez Hills will close out the 2022 season on the road, starting with Stanislaus State Friday and Chico State on Saturday. Both are 5 p.m. start times.