Cal State San Bernardino, riding a 10-year rise to national prominence in NCAA Division II women's volleyball, will compete in its fourth NCAA championship tournament in the past seven years this week. 
    The Coyotes, 32-1 on the season, carry with them the university's hopes of winning the athletic program's first national team championship in any sport and the first NCAA volleyball title by a D-2 West Region team since BYU-Hawaii won in 2002. 
    CSUSB will face Tampa University, 31-2, in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday in Concordia-St. Paul's Gangelhoff Center gym, in St. Paul, Minn.
    CSUSB came close in 2008, losing in the title match to host Concordia-St. Paul, 3-2, after leading 13-11 in the deciding set. 
    The Coyotes graduated two-time all-American outside hitter Jessica Granados, all-America middle blocker Sara Rice and all-America libero Meghan Haas (now a graduate assistant coach) from that 2008 team that went 30-4, but have come back strong led by three seniors and a talented group of underclassmen. 
    The seniors have provided leadership in the form of two-time all-America setter Sara Hoffman, outside hitter Ashtin Hall and backup setter Alyssa Auck. 
    The Coyotes have started a redshirt freshman libero in Camille Smith, a junior outside hitter in Jane Chafeh, a sophomore OH in Morgan Carty and two sophomore middle blockers in Samantha Middleborn and Megan Johnson. 
    This team lost only one match in the 2009 regular season – a 3-1 decision on the road at UC San Diego, a team that went 29-2 on the season and was ranked No. 2 or 3 in the nation for most of the season. 
    Chafeh, Middleborn, Hoffman and Johnson earned all-CCAA first-team honors. Chafeh, Middleborn and Hoffman earned AVCA all-West Region first team honors. Chafeh was voted the Daktronics West Region player of the year and Middleborn was voted to the Daktronics all-region first team. 
    Hall, who along with Hoffman and Auck, have played on four straight CCAA title teams and two West Region title teams, said of this week's mission – winning a national championship: “Whatever it takes, whoever it is that leads us, that's what we're about this season.” 
    Head Coach Kim Cherniss, the 2008 AVCA/NCAA Div. II coach of the year, said the Coyotes have proved to be a tough customer this season because of “the intensity of the serving, the relentless defense and transition to offense and our transition blocking which gives no relief to opponents.” 
    After the Coyotes 3-1 victory over Cal State L.A. in the West Region championship match on Nov. 21, Cherniss commented: “This team has been relentless and on point since August. They know what it takes. They wanted this opportunity to play for a national title and they went out and took it.” 
    TEAM ITINERARY: The Coyotes will fly out of Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, arriving in Minneapolis-St. Paul in the afternoon and will be staying at the Radisson Hotel in nearby Roseville, Minn. The team will practice in Gangelhoff Center at 1 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday and attend the NCAA banquet at 8 p.m. Wednesday night. 
    FOLLOW THE COYOTES: All matches at the NCAA championship will be webstreamed either audio or video or both on the Concordia-St. Paul athletics website. The link is www.cugoldenbears.com/volleyball_website/2009_championship. Tournament updates can also be found at www.ncaa.com and at www.csusbathletics.com 
    DECADE OF EXCELLENCE: The Coyotes are 277-41 (87 percent) since the start of the 2000 season and advanced to the title match of the West Regional each of the past 10 seasons, averaging nearly 28 wins per season. CSUSB is 62-5 over the past two seasons. 
    PREVIOUS NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS 
    2003 – After winning the West Regional for the first time, the Coyotes, ranked No. 1 in the nation at the end of the regular season, hosted the national championship in Coussoulis Arena. CSUSB defeated Tampa, the No. 2 team in the AVCA poll, 3-1, in the quarterfinals. D-2 player of the year Kim Morohunfola had 17 kills and seven blocks. All-American Kim Ford had 16 kills and 18 digs. CSUSB lost to Concordia-St. Paul, 3-2, in the semifinals. Morohunfola had 20 kills and six blocks. Ford had 19 kills and 14 digs. Setter Cristen Trent had 61 assists. 
    2004 – After winning the West Regional again, the Coyotes met up with No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Nebraska Kearney in the quarterfinals and lost 3-1. Brie Harris, the AVCA/NCAA D-2 player of the year had 25 kills and 16 digs for CSUSB. All-American Cathleen Price had 13 kills, 13 digs and 3 blocks. Trent supplied 56 assists. 
    2008 – The Coyotes swept past California (PA), 3-0 in the quarterfinals paced by Rice with 16 kills and Granados with 13 kills. In the semifinals, the Coyotes swept Truman State, 3-0, behind 14 kills, 11 digs and five blocks by Granados and 21 digs by Haas. Concordia St. Paul then avenged a 3-0 loss to CSUSB in a pre-season tournament by rallying in the fifth set for a 3-2 victory. Granados had 20 kills in the match while Rice had 14 and three blocks and freshman middle blocker Middleborn had 13 kills and four blocks. Hoffman supplied 54 assists and Haas had 23 digs. 
    RECORDS VS. TOURNAMENT TEAMS: The Coyotes have a 4-0 record against Tampa, the national champion in 2005. Their last meeting was in 2003 in the NCAA quarterfinals, a 3-1 CSUSB victory.
CSUSB is 1-2 against Concordia-St. Paul, a potential opponent in the semifinals if both teams advance beyond the quarterfinals. Coyotes beat CSP 3-0 in the opening match of the 2008 season and lost in the final match of 2008, 3-2. 
    CSUSB is 1-0 vs. California (PA) (3-0 in 2008) and Indianapolis (3-1 in 1995) and has never played West Texas A&M, Flagler or Dowling. 
    TAMPA VS. CSUSB – Both teams rank high in NCAA Division II team statistics for 2009.
The Spartans are No. 1 in hitting percentage (.331), No. 2 in kills per set (15.07), No. 4 in assists per set (13.85) and No. 10 in blocks per set (2.40).
The Coyotes are No. 4 in hitting percentage (.294), No. 12 in assists per set (13.23), No. 13 in kills per set (14.16) and No. 41 in blocks per set (2.11). 
    TOP-RANKED TAMPA PLAYERS – Tampa features Melissa Vanderhall, a junior who is No. 19 in the nation in kills per set (3.90) and No. 21 in hitting percentage (.366). Tampa junior setter Meghan Sherman ranks No. 4 in nation in assists per set (11.91). Tampa's Danielle Selkridge, a freshman, is No. 1 in hitting percentage (.465). 
    TOP-RANKED COYOTE PLAYERS – Jane Chafeh is No. 4 in kills per set (4.73). Sara Hoffman is No. 13 in assists per set (11.26),. Samantha Middleborn is 42nd in blocks per set (1.04) and 29th in hitting percentage (.357). 
    YOTES NOTES – Senior Ashtin Hall stepped up in the West Regional tournament to average 3.67 kills per set in the three victories, nearly double her season average. Hall hit .394 for the tournament and was named to the all-tournament team along with teammates Jane Chafeh, Megan Johnson, Morgan Carty, Sara Hoffman and reserve defensive specialist Kelcie Tolan….Johnson had 12 blocks in the tourney, averaging 1.33 blocks per set….the Coyotes hit .303 in the regional…Chafeh averaged 4.33 kills and 2.67 digs in the tournament while Hoffman averaged 11.33 assists per set….Coyotes are 3-3 in national championship tournament matches….The team's overall Division II NCAA tournament record is 27-9 – 24-6 in regional matches….Head Coach Kim Cherniss reached the 400-win total in her CSUSB coaching career on Oct. 10 at San Francisco State. Her record now is 414-176….the Coyotes are working on a 13-match win streak that began on Oct. 21 following the team's lone loss of the season to UC San Diego on Oct. 17……