Granados, Hoffman are all-Americans

Volleyball stars named to first team; Haas, Rice gain honorable mention

Jessica Granados, 2nd from left, and Sara Hoffman, second from right were presented first-team all-America honors Wednesday night while Sara Rice, left, and Meghan Haas, right, were honorable mention all-Americans at the NCAA Division II championship banquet in St. Paul, Minn.

    Cal State San Bernardino senior Jessica Granados and junior Sara Hoffman have both been voted to the American Volleyball Coaches Association all-America first team, it was announced today.
    Granados, a right-side hitter from Beaumont (Beaumont HS), earned first-team honors for the second straight year while Hoffman, from San Clemente (San Clemente HS), moved up from being a third-team all-American in 2007.
    Two Coyotes seniors earned honorable mention – libero Meghan Haas (Menifee) and middle blocker Sara Rice (Yucaipa).
    All four were first-team all-West Region and all-California Collegiate Athletic Association first-team as well. Granados was the CCAA player of the year for the second year in a row and was also named the Daktronics West Region player of the year. All four were voted to the West Regional all-tournament team.
    Maggie McNamara, a junior setter from Concordia-St. Paul, was selected as the Division II player of the year for 2008 by the all-America selection committee of the AVCA.
    The Coyotes, 28-3, will play California University of Pennsylvania in the NCAA Division II national championship quarterfinals at 10 a.m. PT on Thursday. CSUSB is the 2008 West Region champion and 2008 CCAA conference champion.
    Granados ranks ninth in the nation in kills per set (4.20) and her 392 kills this season has moved her into fourth place on the CSUSB career list with 1,255. She has 121 career service aces, placing her sixth on the Coyotes career list. She was the NCAA Division II national player of the week once this season and once in 2007.
    Hoffman is ninth in NCAA Division II in assists, averaging 11.54 per set and has 1,096 for the season, giving her 2,951 for her career, good for the fourth spot on the Coyotes career assist list.
    Haas has 462 digs this year, averaging 4.62 per set with a team-high 34 service aces. She has 1,509 digs in her three-year career at CSUSB and needs 34 digs in the national championship tournament to surpass former Coyotes all-American Kim Ford as the program's all-time digs leader. Ford had 1,542 in her four-year career.
    Rice has produced solid numbers in 2008. Her .414 hitting percentage ranks her No. 4 in the nation. She is averaging 2.37 kills per set and 0.71 blocks per set. Her 66 total blocks ranks second on the team.

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