ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Dec. 6, 2015) -- CSUSB's drive for an NCAA West Region title came to an end by the slimmest of margins Sunday night in a 3-2 loss to Western Washington.

Senior All-West Region OH Alexandra Torline rammed 29 kills for the Coyotes, who finished the season 28-6 after their 25-21, 25-14, 22-25, 23-25, 14-16 defeat to the No. 16 Vikings (26-5).

Torline also had 20 digs with one block assist. Sharing an outstanding effort with Torline was junior MB Malika O'Brien, who had 17 kills, four service aces, six digs with two solo blocks and five block assists.

The Coyotes fired off 35 kills total in their first two sets and hit .333 and .353, respectively, in taking a 2-0 lead over the Vikings.

Sweeps at this time of the year are rare and the Vikings showed why they have been among the top teams in the country all season long by earning 25-22 and 25-23 victories in the third and fourth set.

That set-up an epic confrontation for the fifth set and the crowd at the Alaska Airlines Center was not disappointed. Eleven ties and six lead changes took place in the final set.

A kill from Torline gave the Coyotes their final lead of the night and CSUSB up 14-13.

But WWU got a kill from Abby Phelps to tie the set, and a block assist from WWU's Rachel Roeder and Kayleigh Harper put their team up 15-14. A kill from Roeder ended the set, match and put her team to the NCAA championships in Tampa, Fla., this week.

CSUSB had a team season-high 117 digs. Senior Ashley Solis  got through on a career-high 30 digs and sophomore OH Lauren Nicholson dug out 23. Setter Jayann DeHoog had a season-high 70 assists with 15 digs, and senior L Kaitlyn Christner had 17 on the night.

Nicholson was the only other Coyote in double figures with kills with 15. DeHoog and Abbey Vollkommer each had a service ace.

The match put a close on the careers for seniors Torline, Brenna McIntosh, Ashley Solis, Kaitlyn Christner and Kirsten Edgemon. That group reached the NCAA tourney in each of their four seasons, played on two CCAA championship teams and reached the NCAA West Regional final three times.

Their combined record over the four years was 100-28.

Named to the all-tournament team were O'Brien, Nicholson, DeHoog and Torline.