Friday, December 5
5:00 p.m. - Gangelhoff Center - St. Paul, Minn.
#8 Truman State University (33-8) vs. #2 California State San Bernardino (30-3)
CSUSB 3-0: BOX SCORE

RECAP:

ST. PAUL, Minn. - California State University San Bernardino made school history on Friday evening, making a berth in the institution's first NCAA national championship event.  The feat came following a 3-0 win over #8 Truman State (25-23, 25-18, 25-23).  Jessica Granados led the Coyotes to their 30th season win by downing 14 kills and collecting 11 digs.  She also had five block assists.  CSUSB will face the winner between Concordia University/Grand Valley State in the national championship match on Saturday at 7:00 pm at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Truman State pressured the Coyotes into two tight sets before giving up their first national semifinal loss.  The squad made the semis in 2002 and 2004 and advanced to the title match both years.  This season, however, the Bulldog hitters struggle to put balls past the Coyote defense and hit just .080 on the night.  Cal State San Bernardino totaled 11 blocks in the win.

CSUSB marked 41 kills with a .164 hitting average on their way to the win.  They had 52 digs to TSU's 49.  Both teams committed eight serving errors.  The Coyotes played the most consistent in the second set, not allowing a sizeable Bulldog run in the 25-18 win.  Their hitting errors and TSU's ability to use the block kept the first and third sets close.

Granados was the only player in the match to enter double figures for kills.  After a stellar performance in the quarterfinals, Sara Rice came in second on the team with nine kills in the semifinal.  Samantha Middleborn led her team with six block assists.  Meghan Haas topped all players with 21 digs for the Coyotes, followed by Granados with 11.  Setter Sara Hoffman had 35 assists.

Truman State senior Eli Medina and junior Lauren Graybeal each had a team high seven kills for the Bulldogs.  Medina also had ten digs.  The squad's defensive leader was senior Whitney Boehler with 12 digs.

CSUSB Match Notes: CSUSB advances to the NCAA Division II national championship for the first time in school history, in any sport … this is CSUSB’s 14th appearance in the NCAA tournament (9 in DII, 5 in DIII) … CSUSB’s appearance in the national semifinals is its second appearance (last in 2003) … senior rightside hitter Jessica Granados finishes with a match-high in kills for second-straight match in the Championship Tournament …Granados finished with 14 kills (14k-6e-40a, .200).

Truman Match Notes: This was Truman State's 10th appearance in the NCAA Championship and ninth consecutive appearance ... This was the Bulldogs' third semifinal appearance ... They were runners-up in 2002 and 2004 ... TSU was 12-8 this season versus NCAA Championship qualifiers and 2-2 versus teams reaching the Elite Eight ... TSU was 2-3 at the Gangelhoff Center this year ... The Bulldogs had won 12 consecutive matches before tonight's loss ... TSU had lost just five sets during its 12-match winning streak ... They were 23-3 in three-set matches ... The Bulldogs were 29-1 when winning the first set and 4-7 when losing the first set ... TSU was 8-8 versus ranked opponents this season ... The Bulldogs were 33-3 when holding opponents to under .250 hitting percentage ... They were 1-6 on the season when being outhit.

CSUSB QUOTES
Head Coach Kim Cherniss:
Opening Statement: “We’re very, very excited.  Truman State was a tremendous team.  Congratulations to them on a fantastic season.  It wasn’t an easy match for us.  We hit below our season average but I felt like we also played great defense and great team volleyball.  Meghan Haas was great for us.  She was all over the place.”

Cherniss commenting on shutting down TSU hitters: “I feel like we have a pretty cerebral group in terms of shutting down hitters.  We’ve worked really hard on moving our feet.  We did a great job of keeping them out of system.”

Cherniss commenting playing for a national championship:  “It’s pretty special.  Earlier in the day I was telling our associate head coach Danny Scott that how much this really means to our fans and people associated with our program.  It means a lot to everybody, it’s a wonderful thing.”

Cherniss commenting winning first set of match: “I really like winning the first set.  It is so important; you can’t understate how important it is.  Games one and two were really tight.”

Cherniss commenting team’s push towards end of game three: “This team constantly amazes me.   They are a driven group, they trust each other so much and they never give up.  All credit goes to the girls in the uniforms.”

Senior opposite Jessica Granados:
Granados commenting on defeating Concordia earlier in the season:  “I think part of the some level of confidence.  In the first game we went out there with nothing to lose and we’ll go out and play like that again.”

Granados commenting on frustrations of coming up short in past seasons: “It’s really frustrating, three years in a row; we come up with an empty feeling.  It’s a really great feeling getting to the national championship.”

Senior middle blocker Sarah Rice:
Rice commenting on playing in the national championship Saturday:  “It’s unbelievable; it was our goal coming into the year to play for the national championship.  After being shutout out the last three years, to make it in your senior year is unbelievable.”

Rice commenting on support for the program:
“We have a good group of fans and supporters.  I wish they could be here but I know they’re watching.”

VISITING QUOTES
Head Coach:
Opening Statement: "San Bernadino played great. They took care of their side of net. Those are tough ones to lose because there are four really good teams left and someone has to lose. We didn't play our best, but some of that had to do with them. Something just wasn't clicking on our side tonight."

On the first set loss -- "It was painful because we had four service errors (actually three), our right-side hitters weren't clicking but we still had a chance. It affected us in the sense that we had a bigger hole to dig out of and it would have been nice to have that cushion."

On defending CSUSB's Jessica Granados -- "Our defense, even though it looked crazy at times, was pretty good. We made unforced errors - we'd dig a ball and freeball it over - and they took advantage. Our defense was not the issue. She's a great player but there were some things for us to focus on and, for the most part, our defense was there."

Truman State senior outside hitter Eli Medina comments:
On serving at crucial times -- "Usually, when I'm back there, I'm talking to myself. When I don't focus I tend to serve some soft ones. When we were serving them tough we were do well."

On the loss -- "We had a great run all the way here. It (the game) was frustrating but I felt they deserved the win and I wanted them to know them that and congratulate them."

On the blocking of CSUSB -- "That was one of the biggest blocks we faced all year. Finding holes in the block was almost impossible. We talked about how shallow they play and we had to go deep on them. But it was tough getting the ball over their block and it took us out of our game somewhat."

Truman State sophomore setter Ashley Petak comments:

On how CSUSB attacked her -- "I feel teams always attack the setters, to take them out of the offense. The good teams do that and they did tonight."

On what she takes from this experience going into next year -- "I'm going to take away everything the seniors taught us. Being at the national championship we know what we have to do to get back here. I feel we'll be back and be a contender next year."