The NCAA championships committee announced Sunday night that the eight finalists for the 2009 NCAA Division II women's volleyball championship tournament, including West Region champion Cal State San Bernardino will be competing at Concordia-St. Paul, Minn. for the second straight year.
The Golden Bears, two-time defending champions, will have a chance to win a third straight title on their home court where they survived a fifth set against Cal State San Bernardino in 2008, rallying from a 13-11 deficit to win 15-13 and take title, leaving CSUSB with the runnerup trophy.
The difference this year is that the Coyotes (32-1) and Concordia St. Paul (34-0) are in the same half of the bracket and could meet in the semifinals. The tournament will be held Dec. 3-5 in the state capitol of Minnesota, known for its frigid weather at this time of year.
The Coyotes advanced by sweeping past Seattle Pacific, Alaska-Anchorage and Cal State L.A. in the West Regional in Coyote Gymnasium this past weekend, while the Golden Bears needed only nine sets to dispose of Colorado School of Mines, Wayne State and Metro State in the North Central Regional.
The quarterfinals will pit CSUSB against the South Region champion Tampa (31-2) at 5 p.m. CT while CSP will face off against the Midwest Region champion Indianpolis (35-1) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Dec. 3. The other bracket quarterfinal matches pit East Champion Dowling (29-6) against Southeast Champion Flagler (35-8) and the South Central Region champion West Texas A&M (34-3) against the Atlantic Region winner California of Pennsylvania (35-4).
Six of the eight teams werer No. 1 seeds in their region. Flagler was a second seed and West Texas A&M was a third seed. Cal State San Bernardino, which hosted the NCAA Div. II National Championship in 2003, put in a bid to host the event.
The last meeting between the Tampa Spartans and CSUSB was in the 2003 quarterfinals in Coussoulis Arena, won by the Coyotes, who then lost to Concordia St. Paul in the semifinals, 3-2.
