SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos women's volleyball team dropped its opening matches of The Master's College Labor Day Tournament on Friday, falling to the host, TMC, 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-17, 25-23), and Westmont College, 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-16). 
 
On the day, Courtney Hulla tallied 23 kills and nine digs with Lauren Lee adding 19 kills. Cheyanne Patin posted a nine-block and a .412 hitting clip performance in her first two collegiate matches.
 
CSUSM closes out its appearance in the Labor Day tournament on Saturday when the Cougars face NAIA No. 2 Biola (10 a.m.) and Carroll College (4 p.m.).
 
Match 1: The Master's College 3 – CSUSM 1
Hulla collected a team-best 15 kills with 13 coming in the first two sets. Lee had 11 kills, followed by Taylor DeGraaf with 10. Patin registered a match-high six blocks as CSUSM out-blocked the Mustangs 12-to-4.
 
The Cougars trailed by as many as seven points before fighting back to even the score at 22-22 after a Patin solo block. A Hulla kill put CSUSM in place for its first set point but a kill by TMC's Morgan Koch knotted the game at 24-24. A pair of Mustang errors gave CSUSM the first set at 26-24. 
 
After falling behind 6-2 in the second set, CSUSM was unable to take the lead despite tying the score three times. The Mustangs evened the match with a 25-21 second set victory. Hulla racked up seven kills, three digs and a service ace in the set.
 
The third set featured a match-high seven ties and three lead changes. Back-to-back kills by Lee and Kaylor put CSUSM in the lead at 9-7. Both teams traded points until a 9-3 Mustang run made it 20-14. The Cougars were unable to recover as TMC took a 2-1 lead with a 25-17 win.
 
 The Cougars once again fell behind early but a 10-4 run midway through the set gridlocked the score at 20-20. CSUSM battled hard for a fifth set but came up just shy as the Mustangs clinched the set and match at 25-23.
 
Match 2: Westmont 3 – CSUSM 0
Hulla and Lee each posted a team-best eight kills while Ashley Kaylor snagged nine digs in the contest.
 
The Warriors controlled a majority of the opening set. A Lee kill cut the gap to 11-9 but 7-3 run gave Westmont the momentum it needed to clinch the win at 25-16.
 
CSUSM found itself down early but a 9-1 run that included kills from four different Cougars and three Warrior errors put CSUSM back in the game in a 19-19 deadlock. The rally came up short as Westmont closed out the match with two kills to take a 25-22 win.
 
The third set got away from the Cougars after a 13-6 run broke a 6-6 tie and gave the Warriors a 19-12 lead. Westmont cruised to a 25-16 victory to take the match.