LA JOLLA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona volleyball team got off to a strong start Friday at the UC San Diego Invitational as the Broncos jumped out to a 2-0 set lead against Alaska Anchorage.

The Seawolves stormed back to take a 3-2 victory though and later in the day, CPP was dealt a 3-1 defeat at the hands of nationally-ranked Fresno Pacific.

The Broncos (1-5) will return to action Saturday for day two of the UCSD Invite in La Jolla. CPP challenges Cal Baptist at 10 a.m. before taking on Point Loma Nazarene at 5 p.m.

Alaska Anchorage 3, Cal Poly Pomona 2 (Box Score)
The Broncos trailed late in the first set against UAA but got key assists from Katie Colin as she paired with Jessica Doerner, Alexa Hasen and Brianna Thierjung for the decisive kills as CPP took the opening frame, 25-22.

The second set proved to be a bit easier for the Broncos, who got a huge lift offensively from junior Lauren Jones. The Stockton, Calif., native racked up a team-high 16 kills in the match while committing just one error.

Despite the Seawolves taking the third set to cut the margin to 2-1, CPP held a few match points in the fourth with a 24-22 edge. UAA put together four-straight kills and that momentum carried into the fifth, which the Seawolves took by a 15-12 margin to end the match.

Senior Erin Noriega shined defensively for the Broncos as she collected a 24 digs. Sophomore Nicoletta Stork led the team in assists with 32. Those two totals were career bests until Noriega and Stork topped them in the CPP's second match Friday.

Fresno Pacific 3, Cal Poly Pomona 1 (Box Score)
CPP gave 10th-ranked Fresno Pacific a bit of a scare Friday night, closing a 1-0 deficit by capturing a win in set No. 2. But in the end, the Sunbirds rallied to capture victories in the next two frames to take the match by a margin of 3-1.

Jones once again led the team in kills with 14 while Stork and Noriega set new career highs in assists and digs with totals of 38 and 27 respectively. Colin put together a strong and balanced match, collecting 17 assists and 12 digs. The senior setter now has 2,128 assists and she's close to moving into the No. 7 spot on the Broncos' all-time list.

During the second set in which the Broncos prevailed, Stork provided a key serving run that featured kills from Jessica Doerner and Jones. Doerner also added a clutch solo block in that stretch.

CPP played well defensively as a team, totaling 91 digs to set a season high through the first five matches of 2013. In addition to Noriega's team-best 27 in that category, Zoe Herrera also contributed a career-high 16.