Box Score SAN BERNARDINO – The only blip in Cal State San Bernardino's last 25 matches this season occurred Oct. 26 in a home match against Sonoma State. The Seawolves dominated on that night in a 3-1 win at Coussoulis Arena that snapped CSUSB's 33-match winning streak over SSU that dated back to 1995.
 
Fast forward to Friday night's NCAA West Regional semifinal match and on this night, it was CSUSB that proved when a regional final bid is on the line, the odds are in the Coyotes' favor.
 
Behind the power of junior MB Tori May's 14 kills and eight block assists, the host Coyotes were winners going away in a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-23) victory over the Seawolves that puts coach Kim Cherniss's squad into the regional final for an unprecedented 14^th consecutive season.
 
"We were a determined team tonight that played very well,'' said Cherniss, whose team has won 11 straight and 24 of its last 25 matches. "We were aggressive, blocked the ball with skill and carried over the momentum from our win against Central Washington (Thursday).''
 
The 14^th-ranked Coyotes take their 27-5 overall record and 14^th ranking into Saturday night's West Regional final against reigning regional champion BYU-Hawaii at 7 p.m. The second-seeded and No. 4-ranked Seasiders (26-1) were extremely impressive in a 3-0 win over UC San Diego in Friday's first semifinal match.
 
The winner advances to next week's national championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Dec. 12-14.
 
The Coyotes rolled in the first two sets, as just four ties and three lead changes took place in the opening sets.
 
May had seven of her 14 kills in the opening set and six Coyotes had multiple kills in the second set in which they grabbed an impressive 18-9 lead.
 
In the third set, six ties occurred in the early going until SSU forged ahead 11-8 on a Rachel Andrews' kill.
 
Kills from May and Alexandra Torline gave the Coyotes a 15-14 lead, but SSU came back and led 20-18 after another Andrews' kill.
 
Torline (kill) and sophomore Ashley Solis (two kills) keyed CSUSB afterward and the Coyotes led 21-20.
 
The set was tied three more times, but after a SSU timeout, May and Solis combined on a block assist and the Coyotes won the set and match on a SSU attack error.
 
"They played very well,'' Sonoma State coach Bear Grassl said. "I don't they are as good offensively as some of their past teams, but they more than make up for it with one of Kim's best defensive teams. Their middle blockers create problems and when you lead the league in defensive attack percentage, that tells you how good they are.''
 
Torline had eight kills for CSUSB, which ended the night with a .207 attack percentage and allowed SSU just .087.
 
Senior setter Stephanie Sinohui had 30 assists and played a big role on the block with four assists.