SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The California State University San Bernardino women's volleyball season is officially on the eve of their season opener against Northwest Nazarene at the San Diego Invitational at Point Loma Nazarene University.

After two tournaments on the road, they start conference play on September 18 at CCAA newcomer, UC Merced. Their home opener at Kim Cherniss Court at Coussoulis Arena will come two weeks later when they host Cal Poly Pomona.

CSUSB went 15-11 and 11-7 in CCAA play last season, where they fell to Cal State Los Angeles in the first round and narrowly missed the West Regional. However, the Coyotes return several key players from last season's team with four All-Conference selections returning. M'Kera Drake (San Bernardino, Calif.) was named to the CCAA Second Team whereas Savannah Hoffmann (Rialto, Calif.), Allison Legates (Los Altos, Calif.) and Jaiden Van Horn (Elk Ridge, Utah) were all-CCAA honorable mentions.

In addition to the key returners, newcomer Charli Blackman (Auckland, New Zealand) and redshirt freshman Sarai Ross (Beaumont, Calif.) are expected to be among the new contributors. Blackman tallied 202 kills and 234 digs last season at Division II University of Mary, while Ross was a four-time Citrus Belt All-League selection across the street at Cajon High School.

"I'm excited to see how this group performs this season," said legendary CSUSB head coach Kim Cherniss. "We return a lot of key position players from last season, and we are hoping that experience translates into a higher level of success."

The CCAA Tournament will be played at Stanislaus State's Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena from November 20-22, with the champion punching their ticket to the NCAA West Regional, which will start on December 5.

All CCAA-hosted contests will be streamed live on FloCollege, with a majority of home matches featuring commentary in both English and Spanish.

#GoYotes