Box score, play-by-play
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Tough way to end the volleyball season. But it took a tough opponent to end it for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
SPU’s first trip in three years to the NCAA Division II West Regional tournament game to an abrupt halt on Thursday night, as the No. 8-seeded Falcons fell in three games to top-seeded Cal State San Bernardino.
Scores of the first-round match in CSUSB’s Coyote Arena were 25-13, 25-19, 25-16.
The Coyotes (30-1) scored the first nine points of the match and never relinquished control, although the Falcons (17-12) did manage a handful of one-point leads through Games 2 and 3.
“They’re a good serving team. They had us out of system right away,” coach Chris Johnson said. “After we spotted them that big lead (which included two service aces in the opening 9-0 run), we played pretty well the rest of that first game. We played them tight in the second game, and we stayed aggressive. We were proud of the way we did that.”
No one got into double-figure kills for the Falcons, who hit just .039 for the night. Sophomore outside hitter Priscilla Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) had six, as did junior middle blocker Kylie Johnson (Tucson, Ariz.). Freshman setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) had 12 assists, and senior setter Cortney Weedman had nine, finishing her two-year SPU career with 1,042.
Sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) picked up 11 digs on Thursday to move into the top five on the all-time Seattle Pacific list for career digs. She now has 1,193, climbing past the 1,192 of Danielle Detorre (1996-99) for the No. 5 spot. Herold finished with 614 digs for the year, breaking her own single-season school record and putting her well within reach of the all-time SPU mark of 1,552 career digs owned by Torii Mount (2005-08).
San Bernardino hit .245 for the match, and was led by the 13 kills of Ashtin Hall.
“Our middles played really well, but unfortunately, we had trouble on the outside, because our passing wasn’t there,” Johnson said. “Tactically, I don’t think there was a whole lot we needed to change. The scouting report held pretty true. They just played better than us.”
After never being in contention during Game 1, the Falcons forged leads of 4-3, 5-4 and 13-12 in Game 2. They were down just one at 18-17 when the defending West champion Coyotes, who were the national runners-up last season, ran off four straight points for a 22-17 lead.
Seattle Pacific had a 4-3 edge in Game 3, but San Bernardino put the next four points on the board and never let the Falcons get closer than two the rest of the night.
Even in defeat, SPU capped a significant turnaround from last year’s 8-18 season. The Falcons went 11-5 for a second-place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and earned their fifth NCAA appearance in program history.
“That’s definitely something we’re happy about,” Johnson said of going from 18 losses to 17 victories in a year’s time. “To sweep the season series from Western Washington is a good feeling. We played some great matches this year. Even in the preseason, we beat UBC, there was our match against Pomona (a Falcon sweep against the Broncos, who were nationally ranked at the time). And even though we lost, we went five games against (then-No. 7) West Texas A&M.
“The team built a lot of confidence in themselves,” he added, “and we have a lot of returning players next year.”
The Falcons lose four members of the current squad: Weedman, senior middle blockers Jessica Bettencourt (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) and Robin De Jong (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Kylie Johnson, who has one more year of athletic eligibility, but is a senior academically and is moving on from SPU.
But nearly a dozen player are expected to return. That group includes kills leader Risser, digs leader Herold, and sophomore middle blocker and newly crowned GNAC Newcomer of the Year Amber Johnson, who paced Seattle Pacific in hitting and blocks.
NCAA Women's Volleyball
NCAA West Regionals/First Round
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009
Coyote Arena/San Bernardino, Calif.
(#1 seed) Cal State San Bernardino 3, (#8) Seattle Pacific 0
Game scores -- 25-13, 25-19, 25-16.
Service aces -- SPU: Two players with 1. CSUSB: Morgan Carty 3.
Kills -- SPU: Priscilla Collings 6, Kylie Johnson 6. CSUSB: Ashtin Hall 13, Jane Chafeh 10.
Blocks -- SPU: K. Johnson 2. CSUSB: Megan Johnson 4.
Assists -- SPU: Shelby Swanson 12, Cortney Weedman 9. CSUSB: Sara Hoffman 34.
Digs -- SPU: Anna Herold 11, Sarah Risser 9. CSUSB: Camille Smith 14, Carty 12.
Hitting -- SU .039 (25 kills, 21 errors, 103 attacks), CSUSB .245 (40 kills, 15 errors, 102 attacks).
Attendance -- 485.
Records
Seattle Pacific 17-12.
Cal State San Bernardino 30-1.
Next match -- Season complete.