Huntington Beach, Calif. – Golden West opened their season with a 3-1 (25-13, 27-25, 19-25, 25-15) loss to Long Beach. It was the second time the two teams met in the span of five days after scrimmaging on Saturday, January 24. Sophomore Alvin Truong led the Rustlers with 17 kills for the season opener.

The Rustlers (0-1) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first set, only to see the Vikings (1-0) spark a comeback and win the set by a margin of 12 (25-13). The second set saw a tight matchup when a questionable double hit call cost Golden West the set, evening the score to 25-25. Momentum favored the Vikings as they took the set, 27-25.

Golden West showed signs of life when the Rustlers came back from an 0-3 deficit to win the set, 25-19. Long Beach ended the fourth set on a 5-0 run to win the fourth and final set, 25-15, to hand the Rustlers their first loss of the season.

Next: The Rustlers will go on the road to face Santa Monica at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4, 2015.