TURLOCK, Calif. - Stop us if you've heard this one before – the CCAA Tournament Championship has been won by California State University San Bernardino.
The Coyotes took down San Francisco State University in three sets Saturday evening at Stanislaus State's Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena to capture their seventh CCAA Tournament Championship. Set scores were 25-21, 25-22, and 25-18.
The first set was not the cleanest set the Coyotes have played this season, but they still did enough to take a 1-0 lead. CSUSB had only nine kills in the set, led by five from junior Kacie Pedersen (Riverside, Calif.), but benefitted from 10 San Francisco State attack and service errors and three service aces from senior Jordan Cherniss (Colton, Calif.) to take a set that featured 10 ties and five lead changes.
The Yotes picked up the pace in set two, swinging .353 with 15 kills and only three errors to go head 2-0 and push San Francisco State to the brink. Pedersen and redshirt senior Savannah Hoffmann (Rialto, Calif.) had 13 of CSUSB's 15 kills in the set, with eight and five respectively.
Cal State San Bernardino left little doubt in the third and final set of the evening, going wire-to-wire to clinch their seventh CCAA title. The score was tight at the midway point of the set, with the Coyotes ahead just 13-11, but the Coyotes went on a 7-1 run to take a 20-12 lead and would not look back. Pedersen had three consecutive kills on the run, while redshirt freshman Sarai Ross (Beaumont, Calif.) had a pair of kills of her own. Moments later, Ross clinched CSUSB's championship with her fourth kill of the set.
Pedersen finished the evening with a match-high 20 kills in the victory, while Hoffmann had eight kills. Cherniss and libero Jayden Chornomud (Canyon Lake, Calif.) led the way offensively with nine digs each, while McKenna Edwards (Santa Clarita, Calif.) and M'Kera Drake (San Bernardino, Calif.) each had five assisted blocks.
After the match, Pedersen was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player, while Edwards, Chornomud, Hoffmann, and Drake were all named to the All-Tournament Team.
With the win, the Coyotes clinch the CCAA's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. They will find out who they play and where at the selection show on NCAA.com on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
#GoYotes
