SAN BERNARDINO (Nov. 18, 2016) — The two top teams in the CCAA will meet for the conference championship Saturday night.
 
The 14^th-ranked Coyotes, behind the power of All-CCAA standouts Lauren Nicholson and Malika O'Brien, put forth a sound effort in a 3-1 victory over Sonoma State at Coussoulis Arena on Friday. Nicholson fired off a match-high 22 kills with a .340 attack percentage and All-American O'Brien hit .298 on 17 kills in 47 attacks in a 23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 27-25 victory over the Seawolves.
 
CSUSB (23-4 overall) pushed its winning streak to 14 straight, the fifth best successful streak in school history and best since 2011 when CSUSB went 32-0 into the NCAA title game.
 
The Coyotes will take on North top seed Chico State for the CCAA title at 7 p.m. A victory would give the Coyotes and coach Kim Cherniss their 12^th in school history and first since 2013.
 
The two-time defending conference champion Seawolves gave the Coyotes all they could handle. They grabbed a 1-0 lead after taking the first set 25-23, before CSUSB bounced back.
 
The Coyotes jumped out front 5-0 in the second, thanks to a pair of Nicholson service aces. They produced a 7-0 run that lifted their advantage to 21-10 with O'Brien supplying two kills and Hailey Jackson throwing down a solo block and a block assist in the stretch.
 
All told, CSUSB hit .429 in the second on 17 kills and just two errors.
 
Eleven ties and five lead changes summed up the third set with CSUSB gaining control with an ace from O'Brien and a kill from Nicholson to go ahead 18-16. SSU got to within a point of the lead (19-18) before two more kills from Nicholson put CSUSB ahead for good.
 
In the fourth, 17 ties and seven lead changes allowed each team to lay claim to the lead. The Coyotes trailed 25-24, but three successive kills from Nicholson gave the Coyotes their semifinal win.
 
Jackson had 13 kills with three aces, two solos and six block assists for 21 points. Nicholson added two aces, and O'Brien dealt an ace with a solo block and three block assists.
 
Freshman Kaili Scott had nine kills with two block assists. Sophomore All-CCAA setter Jayann DeHoog had 54 assists, while four players had double digit dig — O'Brien 19, Abbey Vollkommer and Nicholson with 16 each and sophomore Hannah Barrett with 12.
 
SSU, which ended its season 15-12, was led by Caiti Wiesner's 18 kills.