SAN BERNARDINO – Two close and two dominant sets saw the No. 1 CSUSB Coyotes move past Alaska Anchorage on Friday night in the NCAA Second Round, 3-1 on the CSUSB Campus.
The Yotes took set one, 25-11, before dropping set two, 23-25, but closing out set three 25-20 and moving in set four, 25-14. They advanced to play Azusa Pacific tomorrow night in the West Regional Final, their third-straight trip to that game.
On Friday though, the Yotes served tough, with eight aces as
Asia Clarke,
Mehana Ma'a, and
Marlee Nunley had two each.
Alexis Cardoza led the attack with 15 kills,
Stephanie Doak added 12, and
Jalyn Hayes had 11. UAA led in blocks 10-9, but
Jalyn Hayes was great again at the net with six.
CSUSB led in digs, 56-51, with
Leilia To'omalatai keeping 18 alive. They forced UAA into hitting .119 and hit .258 themselves, with no errors in the first set and just two in the fourth. Hayes hit .556 in her 18 swings with only one error.
"The points were hard fought tonight," head coach
Kim Cherniss said. "But we stayed patient through the points and saw each play through to find ways to get it done. The key tonight was we improved as the match went on."
Tomorrow the Coyotes have the chance to chase their eighth NCAA Regional Championship in program history and first since 2017. No. 6 APU upset second-seeded Western Washington to earn the matchup. The match is set for 7 pm and live links are on CSUSBathletics.com.
