Lexington, Kent. – For the fourth-consecutive season the CSUSB Yotes had multiple student-athletes named All-Americans.

Alexis Cardoza was named a first team selection for the third consecutive year in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Teams.  She is the first three-time First Team All-American in school history, with a program history that includes 44 All-Americans since 1999.

The three-time California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and West Region Player of the Year led the Yotes to a 26-4 overall record and the program's fifth consecutive conference championship. She led the CCAA and was 19th in Division II with 3.97 kills per set with a .250 hitting percentage. Cardoza was also among the top-60 players statistically in Division II in attacks per set, points per set and total kills. 

"Alexis Cardoza's story will forever inspire me as a coach. This is a student-athlete that came to us with a volleyball IQ that was off the charts, but only slightly above average in physicality in her position," CSUSB head coach Kim Cherniss said.  "By her junior year, through non-stop discipline and determination, she was one of the most physical players in the country in her position and leads us to a National Championship. Then Covid hits. She graduates, and debates whether to put her post graduate academic plans on hold to come back again in 2021 (if we are even allowed a season in 2021!). She comes back, and even she will tell you, she was not in peak physical shape, and battling injuries. Yet again, she finds a way to be elite. She played some of the most cerebral matches I have ever seen a player able to execute through study of film, application of instinct, and sheer competitive grit. She is, bar none, the single best communicator I've ever had on the court and makes every single person on the floor better for it. She is completely deserving of this recognition and I'm so very proud that she represents us."

Joining Cardoza as a second team honoree was junior middle blocker Jalyn Hayes who was 12th in the nation in hitting percentage at .382, first in the CCAA. She was named All-American for the first time in her career after being named First Team All-Region and All-CCAA, and CCAA and West Region All-Tournament. 

"Jalyn Hayes is a special student-athlete. I've rarely had, in my 31 years, a player who has had that type of physical ability who has been able to attack the game as effectively with her brain as with her physicality," Cherniss said. "She is a pure joy to coach and is very deserving of this award."

Getting tabbed to the AVCA honorable mention team was Marlee Nunley, a First Team All-CCAA and CCAA All-Tournament selection who was 14th in the nation and first in the CCAA at 11.05 assists per set.

"Marlee is so deserving of this. For Marlee to have lost out on that critical spring after her freshman year, and then to return after 18 months with next to nothing in training for the sophomore campaign that she put together is truly remarkable," Cherniss said.  "She is so talented and deserves this recognition."