SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team picked up a win for the ages Friday night with a stunning three-set victory over defending national champion Cal State San Bernardino.
The Golden Eagles snapped an 11-match losing streak to the Coyotes dating back to 2016 and, more importantly, advanced to the NCAA Division II West Region title match for the first time since 2009 with a 25-23, 25-23, 25-17 win in Coussoulis Arena. Cal State LA (20-9), seeded No. 5 in the region, will face No. 2 seed Western Washington for the region crown on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
To get there, the Golden Eagles put on a dazzling display on Friday in the win over No. 1 seed Cal State San Bernardino. Cal State LA had shown glimpses of tremendous play throughout the season, but nothing like Friday when the Golden Eagles put it all together for one of the most monumental wins in program history. Naturally, the Golden Eagles have prevailed in later rounds of the NCAA Tournament before, but considering the magnitude of a three-set win over the defending national champions on their home court, this victory has to rank awfully high.
Cal State LA will be seeking its first West Region title since 2005 when the Golden Eagles, as a No. 1 seed, took the crown on their home court. That squad beat Cal State San Bernardino in five sets in the regional championship match. Cal State San Bernardino had won the previous three meetings in 2000, 2007 and 2009. The 2000 and 2009 matches were in regional finals.
Prior to the opening of the 2021 playoffs, the Golden Eagles hadn't won an NCAA match since 2009 and endured first-round losses in each of their last two trips. This year, though, they have dispatched No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona and No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino in consecutive nights with stunning efficiency. The Golden Eagles were relentless on Friday, jumping out to leads in all three sets and seemingly having an answer for every Cal State San Bernardino challenge.
When a kill by
Karla Santos hit the floor to end the match, it was an emotional scene for head coach
Juan Figueroa and his players, none of whom had ever enjoyed a victory over the Coyotes before. In fact, the Golden Eagles hadn't beaten the Coyotes in San Bernardino since 2012. They had lost all three meetings this season, including a four-set decision in the CCAA Tournament two weeks ago, also in San Bernardino.
Alejandra Negron continued her outstanding play with a match-high 18 kills to go along with 14 digs. Santos had 10 kills and 12 digs.
Eliza Cannon had 39 set assists and five kills.
Alexis Cardoza, the 2019 national Player of the Year, had nine kills for the Coyotes.
Victoria Duarte had three kills and seven blocks, while
Jeshmarie Suarez had 16 digs.
Cal State LA had a 43-26 edge in kills and was even in blocks, 12-12. The difference was the Golden Eagles' defense, which was relentless. The Golden Eagles hit at a .168 percentage and limited the high-powered Coyotes to just .034 hitting. Cal State LA also put tremendous pressure on Cal State San Bernardino from the serving line despite recording only one ace. The Golden Eagles got some tremendous serving from
Jaden Grova, Suarez and Santos to keep the Coyotes constantly off-balance.
The Golden Eagles left nothing to chance on Friday, jumping out to a big 20-12 lead in the opening set, wobbling a bit during a 9-0 run by the Coyotes that put them ahead 21-20, before showing great resiliency in winning the set anyway. A Santos kill and a block by Elliott and Duarte stopped the run. After the Coyotes tied it at 22-22, a Negron kill and attack error got the Golden Eagles to set point. The Coyotes cut it to 24-23, but the set ended on a service error.
Cal State LA once again dug deep in the second set. After leading early, the Golden Eagles found themselves deadlocked at 21-21 before kills by Santos and Negron put them ahead for good. A kill by Elliott got the Golden Eagles to set point at 24-22 and, after the Coyotes fought off one set point, the Golden Eagles took a 2-0 lead following a kill by Negron.
The Golden Eagles continued their remarkable play in the third set. The set was tied at 8-8 before kills by Negron, Santos and Cannon put the Golden Eagles ahead for good. A Negron kill completed an impressive surge that gave Cal State LA a 20-12 lead. The Coyotes fought off one match point at 24-16, but the kill by Santos gave the Golden Eagles the historic win.
