ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Dec. 1, 2016) — Career victory No. 600 will be not soon forgotten by CSUSB head coach
Kim Cherniss and her 14
th-ranked Coyotes.
Behind the strength of All-West Region OH
Lauren Nicholson and timely swats by sophomore MB
Hailey Jackson, the second-seeded Coyotes advanced to their 17
th straight NCAA West Region semifinal with a convincing 3-1 win over sixth-seed Central Washington in the opening round of regional play Thursday afternoon at the Alaska Airlines Center.
CSUSB (25-4 overall) increased its season-best winning streak to 16 in a 25-15, 25-23, 16-25, 25-19 conquest over the Wildcats. Thanks to 22 kills from Nicholson, and 15 kills from Jackson, the Coyotes now face defending regional champion Western Washington in Friday's opening semifinal.
Match time is 6 p.m. Pacific time.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE WWU/CSUSB MATCH.
Cherniss's crew took control right from the beginning in a 5-0 start in the opener. Jackson later pounded three straight kills that lifted CSUSB's lead to 10-3 and the Coyotes were never threatened.
The second again featured a flurry of activity from Jackson when CSUSB trailed 21-19. The Apple Valley product contributed three straight kills, and after a kill from CWU, Jackson added another to put CSUSB up 23-22.
Nicholson then added two final kills for the commanding 2-0 match lead.
CWU answered back with an impressive third set, hitting .283 and holding the Coyotes to just .095 to earn the set victory.
However, that blip proved only temporary as the Coyotes overwhelmed the Wildcats in the fourth, hitting a collective .486 (19 kills, just one error in 37 attacks) with a phenomenal 94-percent sideout edge.
Nicholson hit .500 in the set (8 kills, no errors, 16 attacks) and All-American
Malika O'Brien added five kills of her own in the decisive set.
CSUSB hit .298 for the match on 65 kills in 161 attacks. Sophomore S
Jayann DeHoog set up her teammates with 55 assists, her season best in four-set matches. O'Brien also reached double digits in kills with 13.
Freshman MB
Kaili Scott was impressive with a .471 attack percentage on eight kills and no errors.
Defensively, senior L
Abbey Vollkommer popped out 20 digs and Nicholson followed with 17.
CWU ended its season 17-12. The Wildcats were led by Shelby Mauritson with 15 kills.
MATCH NOTES: Nicholson now ranks No. 7 on the single-season CSUSB charts with 468 kills and No. 5 all-time in attacks with 1,307 … The match against CWU was the fourth time in the last five regionals the two teams have met in the regional opener — all Coyotes' victories … Cherniss now owns an overall mark of 600-213 (.738 winning percentage) in her 26 years at CSUSB.
