Will the third visit to the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball National Championship tournament be the charm? 
    Cal State San Bernardino is three victories away from capturing the university's first national team title since intercollegiate athletics was introduced to the campus in 1984-85. This is the 25th year of CSUSB Intercollegiate Athletics. 
    CSUSB volleyball teams have made it to the Division II “Sweet 16” nine straight years and the “Elite Eight” three times in that span. 
    The first obstacle for the 2008 NCAA Division II West Region champions will be California University of Pennsylvania, the Atlantic Region winner with a 40-1 record this season. The Vulcans have played 10 more matches than the 28-3 Coyotes. They will meet at 10 a.m. PT on Thursday in Gangelhoff Arena on the Concordia-St. Paul campus. 
    The winner advances to the semifinals at 3 p.m. PT on Friday and face the winner of the Truman-Nova Southeastern quarterfinal match. The loser goes home in this single-elimination event. The championship match is planned for 5 p.m. PT on Saturday. 
    Here's how the Coyotes stack up against the other teams in the tournament: 
    CSUSB VS. CALIFORNIA (PA). – This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. 
    CSUSB VS. TRUMAN STATE – Potential semifinals opponent. The series is tied 1-1. CSUSB beat Truman 3-2 at the 2002 Tampa Invitational tournament, then lost 3-1 to Truman in the 2005 Minnesota-Duluth Classic. 
    CSUSB VS. NOVA SOUTHEASTERN – Potential semifinals opponent. It would be the first meeting of these two programs. 
    CSUSB VS. CONCORDIA ST. PAUL -- If these two teams meet in the title match, the Golden Bears lead the series 2-1, having beaten the Coyotes in the NCAA national semifinals in 2003, 3-2, and then 3-1 in the 2005 Minnesota-Duluth Classic before losing 3-0 to the Coyotes on Aug. 28 in the Coyote Classic. 
    CSUSB has never played Grand Valley State, Armstrong-Atlantic or New Haven, the other teams in the Elite Eight. 
    COYOTES DIVISION II National Championship history: 
    2003 – After winning its first West Region title, CSUSB then hosted the national championship tournament as the No. 1 seed and defeated No. 2 Tampa in the quarterfinals, 3-1. CSUSB then lost to Concordia-St. Paul, 3-2 in the semifinals. North Alabama won the tournament. 
    2004 –. CSUSB defeated UC San Diego, 3-2, in a five-set match for the West Region title, led by NCAA Div. II player of the year Brie Harris, who set a tournament record with 45 kills in the match. CSUSB then lost 3-1 in the NCAA quarterfinals to top-seed Nebraska-Kearney. 
    NCAA TOURNAMENT RECORD – The Coyotes are 21-6 in Div. II regional tournament matches and 1-2 in the national tournament. 
    ON A ROLL – The Coyotes are 82-8 overall since the start of the 2006 season. 
    HOUSE OF PAIN – Coussoulis Arena has been a tough place for visitors to win volleyball matches. The team went 17-0 this season. Since 1997, the Coyotes are 148-18 in Coussoulis Arena and 104-11 in CCAA conference matches at home. CSUSB has a 75-3 record at home in CCAA matches since the start of the 2001 season, 102-9 overall in that span. Only CCAA home losses in that span have been to UCSD (2004, 2007) and Cal Poly Pomona (2005). 
    NCAA INDIVIDUAL LEADERS – Setter Sara Hoffman ranks No. 9 in the nation in assists per set (11.54). She has 1,096 assists in 31 matches. Sara Rice ranks No. 4 in the nation in hitting percentage (.412). Jessica Granados is No. 9 in the nation in kills per set (4.20). 
    NCAA TEAM LEADERS – CSUSB is No. 8 nationally in assists per set (13.23); No. 6 in hitting percentage (.285); No. 12 in kills per set (14.06) and No. 6 in win-loss percentage (.903.) 
    YOTES NOTES – Head Coach Kim Cherniss, in her 18th season at CSUSB, now has 380 wins and 172 losses. However, since 1996 her teams are 311-60 overall… CSUSB has a 6-3 record against current top 25 teams in Division II…Coyotes are the only team to beat tournament host and No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul (34-1), the 2007 D-2 national champion….Granados' 392 kills this season has moved her into fourth place on the CSUSB career list with 1,255…..Granados has 121 career service aces and needs just three more to move into the top five on the CSUSB career list…Haas now has 1,509 career digs in three seasons, moving her into the No. 2 spot on the CSUSB career list. Haas has averaged 5.05 digs per set for her career…She needs 34 digs in the tournament to surpass Kim Ford (2000-03) as the all-time digs leader. Ford had 1, 542….Hoffman has 2,951 career assists in three seasons, good for the No. 4 spot on the CSUSB career list…..sophomore Jane Chafeh has emerged as the team's No. 2 attacker, averaging 2.87 kills per set with a team-leading 14 solo blocks….freshman Samantha Middleborn is averaging 0.97 blocks per set with 12 solos and hitting .348…. 
    VULCANS VIRTUES – Teamwise, California (PA.) ranks 18th in the nation in kills per set (13.61), 20th in digs per set (17.43), 24th in assists per set (12.45) and 46th in aces per set (1.88)…..Among individuals, Ludmila Amaral is No. 3 in hitting percentage (.424) and No. 22 in blocks per set (1.14)…..Renata Silva is No. 22 in assists per set (10.78)….Marta Hodge is No. 10 in digs per set (5.54)….Joanna Nist is No. 49 in the nation in kills per set (3.56)…..the team's only loss was at home (to Indianapolis)…..the Vulcans have three Brazilians on the roster – Amaral, Silva and Thais Franca….the Vulcans are No. 1 in Division II in win-loss percentage (.976). 
    BULLDOGS BANTER – Truman State is a perennial national contender making its fifth appearance in the national championship tournament in the last eight years as the South Central Region champion. The Bulldogs are still looking for their first NCAA title in volleyball…..the team has played 15 matches on neutral courts and are 14-1….teamwise, Truman ranks No. 5 in the nation in blocks per set (2.46), 11th in kills per set (14.09), 12th in assists per set (12.94) and 17th in hitting percentage (.254)….individually, Allie Cherven ranks 15th in the nation in blocks per set at 1.17 with 29 solo blocks….Whitney Boehler is 48th in digs per set at 4.62….. 
    SHARK BITES – Nova Southeastern is the Cinderella team of the Elite Eight since it was unranked nationally before capturing the South Regional with a 24-11 record…..teamwise, the Sharks rank 29th in the nation in service aces per set at 1.99….Individually, Valentina Petrova of Nova is 12th in the nation in aces per set at 0.61 based on 84 aces….Petrova is a senior from Bulgaria….Petrova also averages over 10 assists per set and 2.43 digs per set….Melinda Gorman, Emily Carle and Molly Sigerich lead the Sharks' attack…Carle leads the team in solo blocks with 24 and has over 100 total blocks… 
    CONCORDIA CLIPPINGS – If the Coyotes advance to the title match and are able to face the defending NCAA champion Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears, they will find a team that became stronger after losing to CSUSB in the season opener, 3-0… CSP has advanced to the NCAA title match three times, first in 2003 when it lost to North Alabama, then winning the title in 2007 while compiling a 36-4 record…..teamwise, the Bears are No. 1 in Division II in assists per set (14.65), No. 1 in kills per set (15.30), No. 3 in hitting percentage (.305)….No. 12 in blocks per set (2.37)…..No. 2 in win-loss percentage (.971)….Among individuals, Maggie McNamara leads the nation in assists per set (13.41 on 1,569 assists)…..Maria Steinhagen is 35th in blocks per set (1.06) and 29th in hitting percentage (.343)….Emily Palkert is No. 26 in hitting percentage (.347) and No. 33 in kills per set (3.65)….Sadie Kessler of CSP is 33rd in hitting percentage (.341)….Head Coach Brady Starkey boasts the top winning percentage among D-2 women's' volleyball coaches at 200-20 in his five-plus seasons, a .909 winning percentage. The team has won 30 or more matches in each of his six years at CSP…in their August meeting, the Coyotes limited Steinhagen and Palkert to a total of 12 kills between them….Whitney Meierotto did the most damage with 11 kills as CSUSB prevailed 25-19, 25-23 and 25-17…..CSP hit only .150 in the match while the Coyotes hit .310 led by Jessica Granados with 23 kills on .486 hitting and 40 assists by Sara Hoffman.