Huntington Beach, Calif. - Golden West women's volleyball (7-3, 3-2 OEC) drops a close match to Cypress College (11-3, 3-2 OEC) in five set faceoff, 2-3. 

Golden West had an impressive bounce back after their first loss to Orange Coast with a dominant sweep against Santiago Canyon. The Rustlers faced off against Cypress College who came off a similar loss to the Pirates at OCC. Though Golden West had a one win advantage in the Orange Empire Conference, the Chargers were ranked No. 12 while the Rustlers were ranked No. 24. 

Cypress took the first set in a back and forth affair as Golden West went down early, 21-25. However, the hosting Rustlers came back strong in the second and third set. The home team won convincingly in the second set 25-12. The Rustlers would  be pushed in the third set as they persevered and won in a two-point advantage, 26-24. From there, the Chargers picked up their play and won the fourth set 17-25. For the tie breaker, each side fought hard but it was Cypress that claimed the conference win. Golden West performed incredibly well against the No. 12 team in the state but just came up short in the end. 

Hayden Murray was key as the setup role with her 23 assists, nine digs and six kills. Freshman Mackenzie Dorney contributed two service aces, 16 digs, seven kills and three blocks. Peyton McBride led in kills with ten, had three digs and one block. Due to their exceptional play, the Rustlers climbed the state rankings by one spot to be solely in possession of No. 23. 

NEXT UP: Golden West will travel to Riverside College to faceoff against the Bobcats on Wednesday, October 4th.