CARSON -- Cal State Dominguez Hills was two points away from claiming a five-set win to kick off its final homestand of the 2026 season, but visiting San Francisco State scored the final four points of set five to take a 25-19, 23-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-13 heartbreaker over the Cardinal and Gold.
Jaidan Alexander (pictured) and
Natalia Walden-Schulz paced CSUDH with 10 kills each in the loss.
After dropping the first set, the hosts roared back in sets two and three to take a 2-1 lead. In the second set, a 5-0 run behind Alexander's strong serve broke a 7-7 tie that gave the Toros the lead for good in the tight frame.
Set three was knotted at 8-8 before four points from
Rilee Graham's serve gave the Toros a 12-8 lead, and another strong rotation with
Giovannina De Sisto behind the service line accounting for another run, this one a 4-0 spurt that increased a 13-10 edge to 17-10. Despite the Gators getting to within two points at 23-21, a
Lainey Johnson kill and De Sisto service ace ended the would-be rally to bring CSUDH to within a set of victory.
SFSU controlled set four to send the match to the deciding fifth, where the Toros roared back from a 9-5 deficit to take a 13-11 lead behind a De Sisto putaway.
That would be the final point of the night for the Toros, however, as SFSU ran off the final four points to take the thriller.
De Sisto finished with a sizzling .857 hitting percentage (6 kills, 7 attacks, 0 errors), adding 15 sets and 10 digs. Â
The Toros conclude the 2026 season on Saturday, hosting Cal State East Bay for a 1 pm first serve.
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