Cal State San Bernardino Captures West Region Championship to Earn Trip to Denver
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SAN BERNARDINO - In another five-set battle for a trophy, No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino claimed their eighth NCAA West Region crown to advance to the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship final site in Denver.
The Coyotes’ first five-setter in their undefeated 30-0 campaign came just two weeks ago, at home, in the CCAA Tournament finale. And Saturday, it took five for the squad to close out Azusa Pacific and keep their perfect season rolling.
Cal State San Bernardino will join seven other squads in Denver for the quarterfinal round, set for Thursday, Dec. 12. Four top-seeded regional teams advanced out of this week’s competition. The only other unbeaten and No. 1 regional seed Nebraska-Kearney along with No. 1s Molloy and Regis make up half the final site. Regional No. 2 seed Gannon, No. 3 seed Carson-Newman and a pair of No. 5s in Saint Leo and Rockhurst round out the eight making the trip west.
The eight quarterfinal participants will be reseeded, so opponents and game schedules are yet to be announced by the NCAA. All games at the final site will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
| West Region Finals: No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino vs. No. 6 Azusa Pacific |
Box Score |
CSUSB postgame |
APU postgame
The match was tight throughout, with 20 total points proving the difference, and two sets going beyond the standard 25 highlighting the epic matchup. There were 49 ties and 21 lead changes in just the third match between the Cougars and Coyotes in the last dozen years.
Cal State San Bernardino opened their night at The Den with a 26-24 victory in the first set, but Azusa Pacific was the first to reach the scoreboard. Not only were the Cougars first to strike, but in fact, the visitors scored the opening point in each of the five frames contested. Fifteen of the night’s knotted scores came in the first, giving notice to the fans in the packed gym that they were all in for a treat on the court.
The second frame also went the way of the Coyotes, but Azusa Pacific didn’t make it easy in the least. Back-to-back attack errors for Cougar Katarina Radisic moved the score to 24-13 and set point as the home crowd just waited, and waited, and waited for Cal State San Bernardino to put the final point on the board.
Azusa Pacific fended off an impressive string nine set points and energized the faithful Cougars in the crowd and on the sidelines. Despite Cal State San Bernardino taking the 25-22 victory in the frame, a shift in momentum and mindset had found the visitors.
The third set opened yet again with an Azusa Pacific point, but an eye-popping 23 ties and a 33-31 final set score were to come. After the Cougars’ early lead, Can State San Bernardino edged in front at the midway point before yet again relinquishing the lead in what would turn into a see-saw set.
It appeared the Coyotes might manage a hard-fought sweep after an ace for Alexis Cardoza brought the score to 25-24 with the CCAA and West Region Player of the Year back at the line to serve for the match. However, an untimely service error followed and Azusa Pacific found a way to capitalize in the extended set. Cougar seniors Aliyah Morrison and Julianne Miller earned the final two kills to get Azusa Pacific on the board and force a fourth.
In what was described as an emotional hangover by Cal State San Bernardino head coach Kim Cherniss after the match, the fourth set had the Coyotes recovering from the low of dropping the lengthy third frame. Meanwhile, Azusa Pacific rode their high to a 25-22 victory in the fourth to force the deciding set.
The Cougars yet again scored first and held the 6-4 lead after Jalyn Hayes hit into the solo block for Miller. The next two points went the way of the Coyotes capped by Moira Murphy’s light touch for the point ignited the crowd and set the score at 6-all. By the switch, Cal State San Bernardino edged out to the 8-6 advantage and the Coyotes knew the match was theirs to win.
A 5-1 run to close the night saw Stephanie Doak and Lydia Morohunfola fire off back-to-back kills with Morohunfola and Cardoza combining for the block to edge the home team ever closer. The match was capped in fitting fashion - with Cardoza punctuating the night with the kill and send the Coyotes streaming onto the court to celebrate and hoist regional trophy for the eighth time.
Cardoza paced the match with 22 kills while adding 13 digs for the double-double. Doak finished with 17 kills as Morohunfola and Hayes each added 10. Hayes nearly nabbed a double-double of her own with nine blocks in the match, while setters Mehana Ma’a (29 assists) and Marlee Nunley (31 assists) directed the offensive attack. Libero Leilia To’omalatai held down the defense with 23 digs, matching the tally of Azusa Pacific libero Bailey Henington.
The Cougars got double-digit kill tallies from four women, with Miller’s 17 leading the way in her final collegiate match. Azusa Pacific closes the season with a 28-5 overall record as the PacWest champions, while regular-season and tournament champion Cal State San Bernardino nabs its second regional crown in the last three years and the eighth in program history in what has been a perfect campaign, to date.