Box Score NAMPA, Idaho (Nov. 20, 2014) — Great things happen when No. 22 Cal State San Bernardino gets off to a good start.
Sixth-seed CSUSB grabbed a 2-0 lead over third-seed Western Washington, then rallied in the fourth set for a 3-1 win in an NCAA West Regional first-round match, played at Northwest Nazarene on Thursday afternoon.
Junior All-Region OH
Alexandra Torline led the Coyotes (21-6 overall) with 18 kills, and three other Coyotes reached double figures in that category in their 25-21, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23 victory.
All-American
Tori May had 15 kills and hit .481, while
Kaitlyn Christner manufactured 14 kills and All-American
Brenna McIntosh had 11 kills with two solo and three block assists.
CSUSB is now 16-0 on the year when it wins the opening set.
What had to please head coach
Kim Cherniss was her team's ability to come-from-behind and grab precious momentum when the Coyotes needed it most.
"I'm very happy with our performance today,'' Cherniss said. "We're not very familiar with playing the first match of the day, as we've had the benefit and privilege of hosting quite a bit so this particular group has not been in that situation. I was a little concerned with how we would come out. There's something to be said about watching teams play first and kind of getting your tournament mojo going so to speak, so I was pretty proud of the fact that we came out pretty strong from the beginning and we were executing at a very high level.''
Down for nearly the entire fourth set, CSUSB found its rhythm after trailing 22-18.
A solo block from All-American MB
Brenna McIntosh gave the Coyotes sideout. With Torline setting, the Coyotes sandwiched a block assist from McIntosh and Christner around two WWU attack errors and the set was tied at 22-22.
After WWU called timeout, Torline blistered a service for CSUSB's first lead of the set at 23-22. Christner then followed with a kill and the Coyotes held set and match point.
WWU got a kill from Rachel Roeder to get within a point of CSUSB, but Christner responded with a kill to give the Coyotes the victory.
CSUSB grabbed control early, firing .405 with 18 kills and just three errors in the opening set with May and Christner firing five kills apiece. And in the second, the Coyotes hit just .139, but they grabbed the lead from the outset and never trailed for the 2-0 match lead.
WWU, however, came back in the third with a .353 attack effort.
Leading the Coyotes was junior setter
Ciara Richards with 55 assists, nine digs and one block assists.
Kirsten Edgemon led in service aces with two and defensively, All-CCAA libero
Arielle McCullough led in digs with 20 and Christner followed with 17.
CSUSB had 17 blocks as May had one solo and four block assists. Christner followed suit with four block assists.
"I felt like we could hit pretty well against them,'' May said. "We watched film and played them in preseason. It was like being able to watch on film what they did against us the first time and then knowing their tendencies. And when we came out in the first and second games, we took charge and figured out what their strengths and weaknesses and exploited them.''
The Coyotes advance to the semifinal rounds Friday when they take on No. 7 Sonoma State, a 3-1 winner over Alaska-Anchorage. The two CCAA teams split their regular-season contests, each winning on the road.
WWU finished its season 21-7. Roeder's match-high 20 kills led the Vikings.
