SAN BERNARDINO – With all the success the Cal State San Bernardino women's volleyball team has had over the past quarter century – a national championship, two second place finishes and eight NCAA West Regional titles – there have been disappointments.
One of the them occurred on Saturday night as Cal State Los Angeles successfully defended the 2022 West Region title it won in route to a final four finish at the national championship with a 3-0 sweep of the CCAA champion Yotes.
CSUSB entered the title match in Coussoulis Arena with a 26-4 record knowing they had beaten the Golden Eagles at their gym for the CCAA title on Nov. 18 after splitting their regular season meetings as both wound up conference play 15-3 and tied for first place.
The Golden Eagles dominated right from the start, blowing out CSUSB 25-15 and 25-16 in the first two sets and finishing off the sweep with a 25-18 result in the final set.
Just look at the stats: Points – L.A. 66, Yotes 34; Kills – L.A. 50, Yotes 31; Assists – L.A. 47, Yotes 28; Digs – L.A. 54, Yotes 33.
As a result, the Golden Eagles earned a return trip to the NCAA Elite Eight tournament in Pennsylvania on Dec. 7-9 by hitting .439 for the match with only seven attack errors and serving up 13 aces, six by the CCAA and West Region player of the year Emily Elliott. CSUSB hit .216 for the match.
"They (L.A.) played real well. They earned everything they achieved tonight. We couldn't counter those two (Elliott and Iane Henke). They went off on us," said CSUSB Head Coach
Kim Cherniss. "They played the best I've seen them play," Cherniss added. "I hope they bring another national championship back for the CCAA."
Elliott, a 6-3 junior outside hitter, found enough openings in the Yotes front line to drive home a match-high 22 kills on .558 hitting to go with seven digs and those six aces. The other half of L.A.'s one-two punch, Iane Henke pounded home 16 kills on .441 hitting with 17 digs and two block assists.
"We weren't able to properly play from the service line," Cherniss said. "We were just not able to execute and Elliott and Henke just went off from their service line."
Golden Eagles setter Eliza Cannon came up with a match-high 42 assists and six digs in support of her team while Ashley Dittman did some damage with seven kills and nine digs.
CSUSB freshman
Trinity Sheridan led the Yotes with eight kills on .273 hitting while senior
Jenna Patton had seven kills on .375 hitting and senior
Taryn King contributed seven kills on .455 hitting. Junior
Ashley Robinson had a tough night with just three kills in 24 swings (.125) hitting and libero
Shira Lahav had but eight digs after averaging over four digs per set all season. Freshman
Jayden Chornomud helped out with seven digs of her own.
Senior setter
Marlee Nunley closed out her career at CSUSB with 27 assists, two block assists, only one kill and four digs. She was the only holdover from the 2019 NCAA championship team.
"Honestly, I'm so grateful throughout my five years here I've developed relationships with my teammates that will last forever. The girls trusting me to direct the offense for the past three years was just awesome," said Nunley.
Senior
Jenna Patton had mixed feelings. "It's sad that we lost but my first two years we lost in the first round so I was glad we made it to the finals."
This victory by Cal State L.A. is a reminder of the rivalry the two teams have had in post-season trips to the NCAA tournament from 2000 to the present day.
- 2000 – The Yotes upset No.1 ranked Cal State L.A., 3-2, in the region semifinals at the Eagles Nest, ending their season at 30-1.
- 2005 – The Yotes lost to L.A., 3-2, in the regional finals, also at the Eagles Nest.
- 2007 – The Yotes beat L.A. 3-1, in the regional semifinals.
- 2009 – The Yotes downed L.A. 3-0 in the region title match.
- 2021 – L.A. beat the Yotes, 3-0 in the regional semifinals.
Despite Saturday night's loss, CSUSB still leads the all-time series 48-28.
The Yotes will return outside hitters Robinson and Savannah Hoffman along with the talented freshman Sheridan to lead a group of young players like Chornomud, Kacie Pederson,
Kylie Thomas and Whiteman plus a promising middle blocker in freshman
M'Kera Drake.
Despite losing their last match, the Yotes can look back at a successful season that culminated with another regional finals appearance and a winning 17 CCAA conference championships between 2001 and 2023.
Cherniss surpassed the 750-win mark in this her 32
nd season at CSUSB. During her tenure the program has averaged 23.5 wins a season.
A nice legacy for Head Coach
Kim Cherniss, Associate Head Coach
Danny Scott and assistant coach
Kelcie Tolan along with the players they have coached together.
