Riverside, Calif. - The women's volleyball team returns from Arizona, winless in their two matches this past weekend. The Golden Eagles fell to Embry-Riddle University, 3-1 (17-25, 22-25, 25-15, 21-25), on Friday afternoon. The team also dropped a five set match at Benedictine University (24-26, 25-14, 25-20, 23-25, 12-15). The two losses drop La Sierra to 7-5 in Cal Pac play and 14-10 overall. The Golden Eagles also dropped into a tie for 3rd place, but currently sit in 4th place based on the head-to-head tiebreaker against La Sierra.

The Golden Eagles lost to Embry-Riddle despite strong performance by Michele Mendizabal (22 kills), Kiana Krumm (15 kills), and Veronica Ramirez (nine kills). La Sierra finished with 55 kills, compared to Embry-Riddle's 45 kills. But the team was unable to overcome Embry-Riddle, 24 attack errors, and eight service errors.

Daniela Alvarez led the team in with 13 digs, while Emily Morgan added another 10 digs. Marissa Fregoso had a team-high 21 assists and Cairon Fido finished with 16 assists.

On Saturday night, the Golden Eagles traveled to Mesa, Arizona, to face Benedictine University, whom they defeated on their home court. But the Redhawks got the best of the Golden Eagles on this night.

Mendizabal, Krumm had another good showing with 19 kills and 12 kills, respectively. Ramirez matched her previous effort with nine kills, while Brianna Greely notched 10 kills on the night.

Fregoso tied a match-high with 26 assists, while Fido added 19 in the loss.

Both teams were relatively evenly matched as far as numbers are concerned, but the Redhawks outlasted the Golden Eagles to remain in the competition for one top four positions toward qualifying for the conference tournament.

The women's volleyball team must win one of their two remaining, regular season, Cal Pac matches. On Friday, the team will host the University of California- Merced, at 1pm. They will close-out the regular season with a home match, versus Pacific Union College, on Saturday night.