Nov. 16, 2007

Box Score

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Western Washington University rallied from a two-game deficit to advance to the championship match of the NCAA Division II Volleyball Pacific Regional with a dramatic 23-30, 26-30, 30-21, 30-25, 15-12 semifinal victory over defending champion UC San Diego University on Friday at Coussoulis Arena on the campus of host Cal State San Bernardino.

The Vikings, ranked No.24 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 and the No.2 seed, improved to 23-4 with their 18th straight victory. It is the farthest that they or any other Great Northwest Athletic Conference team has advanced in NCAA II post-season play.

UCSD, ranked No. 21 nationally and the No.3 seed, ended its season 20-8. The Tritons had beaten Western in the first round at last year's regionals.

Western will now face host and No.1 seed Cal State San Bernardino (27-2), which defeated No.5 seed Cal State L.A.,30-26, 21-30, 30-24, 30-19 in the other semifinal, in the regional title match Saturday at 7 p.m. The Pacific Regional winner advances to the Elite Eight.

"I am so proud of this group," said Western coach Diane Flick. "It's the signature of what they've done all year long. They're willing to get better, they're willing to learn, and they're willing to keep working hard."

"We've had some five-game comebacks before, but considering the situation, this is the most special."

Trailing 11-8 in the deciding fifth game, the Vikings scored five straight points on kills by outside hitters Emily Castro (Sr., Bellingham/Meridian) and Jaime Anderson (Sr., SeaTac/Mount Rainier) and three straight attack errors by UCSD for a 13-11 lead. The Tritons got to within one, 13-12, before Western scored the final two points as Anderson had a kill and combined for a block with Angie Alvord (Jr., Laurel/Meridian) on the game-winning point.

Castro led the Vikings with 16 kills and 10 digs. Anderson had a team-high 18 kills and Alvord had a match-high nine blocks and eight kills with a .368 attack percentage. Tiana Roma (Jr., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) 11 kills and setter Katie Robinson (Sr., Everson/Nooksack Valley), who was nearly knocked out by an errant elbow late in the second game, had 52 assists, nine digs, three blocks and three kills.

Western libero Courtney Schneider (Sr., Snohomish) tied for match-high honors with 26 digs, moving into fourth-place among NCAA II career leaders with 2,572. She needs two more digs to climb into third-place.

UCSD was paced by the match-high 22 kills of Rebecca Bailey. Amber Ries had 18 kills with a .412 hitting percentage, Sylvia Schmidt 16 kills and four blocks, and Natalie Facchini 26 digs for the Tritons.

Western had a .240 attack percentage to the Tritons' .206, but UCSD had a 13-7 edge in blocks and a 11-6 advantage in service aces.

An 8-2 run in game one gave UCSD a 23-14 lead that it never relinquished and after Western took an early 9-5 lead in game two, the Tritons rallied and scored five of the last seven points to take a two-game to zero lead.

Western led 12-6 in game three and after UCSD got to within one, 20-19, the Vikings used an 8-1 run to close it out. Western got out to a 10-5 lead in game four and extended it to 19-11 with the Tritons never getting closer than five as the match was deadlocked at two games apiece.

CSUSB, ranked No.3 nationally, is in the final for the eighth straight year, winning titles in 2003 and 2004.

Western lost to the Coyotes, 3 games to 2, earlier this season at the WWU Invitational. The Vikings won the first two games before CSUSB rallied for the victory.

NO.1 Coyotes advance with 3-1 victory over Cal State L.A.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA. - No.1 seed Cal State San Bernardino advanced to the championship match of the NCAA Division II Pacific Regional Volleyball Tournament for the eighth consective year Friday night with a 3-1 victory over No. 5 Cal State L.A. in the semifinals.

The Coyotes, 27-2, will face No. 2 Western Washington, 23-4, at 7 p.m. Saturday night in Coussoulis Arena on the Cal State San Bernardino campus for the championship and a berth in the 2007 National Championship.

Junior right side hitter Jessica Granados paced the Coyotes with 21 kills on .390 hitting while senior middle blocker had 18 kills on .485 hitting and eight block assists as CSUSB prevailed over the Golden Eagles (17-10) by scores of 30-26, 21-30, 30-24 and 30-19 before 660 fans.

Sophomore setter Sara Hoffman posted 59 aces to go with four service aces and 11 digs while sophomore outside hitter Ashtin Hall contributed 10 kills and three block assists.

Four Cal State L.A. players were in double figures led by senior Bianca Gorospe with 14 kills on .400 hitting. Lindsay Laakso had 13 kills and nine digs. Senior Airess Padda concluded her collegiate career with 12 kills. Setter Keslie Brown had 50 assists.