Cal State San Bernardino Claims Third Straight Conference Crown
Box score |
Cal State San Bernardino postgame |
Cal Poly Pomona postgame
TURLOCK, Calif. – For the third-straight season and 14th time in program history, the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division II Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes are the CCAA Champions.
Playing in their fourth-straight Championship final and compiling an impressive overall record of 26-2, the Coyotes have now guaranteed their spot in their 19th-straight NCAA tournament field. With the CCAA’s automatic qualifying berth into the NCAA Division II Championship, Cal State San Bernardino will learn their NCAA seed and region location tomorrow night at 7 p.m. on NCAA.org.
After falling behind with a first-set loss, Cal State San Bernardino fired back winning the next three sets, but the match wasn’t without its fare share of dramatics. All told, the match saw 30 ties with Cal Poly Pomona fending off multiple set-point attempts, including five in the second set alone.
But Conference Player of the Year Alexis Cardoza and crew had their sights set on the win, regrouping after the first set to serve up the victorious effort. Along with Cardoza’s 19 kills, Hailey Jackson added 13, and Sascha Dominique joined duo in double figures with 10. Jayann DeHoog dished 50 assists and Leilia To'omalatai anchored the defense with 23 digs.
The Coyotes dropped the first set 25-18, but a block and kill from Mikaela Grove fueled a three-point lead in set two and another block made it 24-18, as Cal State San Bernardino took the 25-23 win in the frame after a Jackson score.
The Broncos took an early lead in the third, and a kill from Jackson knotted the score at 14. The see-saw battle continued with Cal Poly Pomona edging out to a 20-19 lead after an attack error by the Coyotes. It went back and forth until a sneak kill from DeHoog made it 22-20 in favor of Cal State San Bernardino after staving off two set points, Cardoza found the floor to take the set by a score of 25-23.
The Coyotes had no interest in a fifth set racing to a 15-9 lead in what would prove to be the decisive final frame on a kill from Dominique. Cal Poly Pomona cut the advantage to four after a point for Jenna Goldsberry cut the lead to 20-16. The Broncos could get no closer, however, as Cal State San Bernardino closed the night with the kill from Mikaela Grove with the score at 25-19 and the championship celebration was on.
2018 CCAA Volleyball Championship All-Tournament Team
Alexis Cardoza (So, OH), Cal State San Bernardino (MVP)
Sierra Adams (Jr., OH), Stanislaus State
Olivia Aguilar (Jr., OH), Cal State San Marcos
Andrea Bosnic (Sr., OH), Cal Poly Pomona
Jayann DeHoog (Sr., S), Cal State San Bernardino
Vanessa Ditz (Sr., L), San Francisco State
Kristen Hamlin (Sr., MB), Cal Poly Pomona
Hailey Jackson (Sr., MB), Cal State San Bernardino
Kathy McKiernan (Sr., MB), Cal State East Bay
Kelsey Molnar (Sr., S), Cal State LA
Leilia To’omalatia (S., L), Cal State San Bernardino
Kira Zimmerman (Fr., S), Cal Poly Pomona