Recently in Cal State San Bernardino Category
Meghan Haas of Cal State San Bernardino, the California Collegiate Athletic Association's scholar-athlete of the year, is now a semifinalist for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Haas, an honorable mention all-American as a libero in volleyball and holder of the CSUSB career and single season records for digs, was among 30 student-athletes from 130 entries among three NCAA divisions to make the semifinals.
The 30 semifinalists will be trimmed to nine - three from each division - next month and the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the national winner from the pool of finalists.
The recipient will be announced during an awards dinner in Indianapolis, Ind., on Oct. 18.
Haas was among 10 NCAA Division II student-athletes advancing in the awards program and the second from the CCAA. Also making it into the semifinals was Jasimen Bailey, a track and field athlete from Cal State Stanislaus.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have excelled in the areas of academic achievement, athletics, service and leadership.
Haas learned the news first from her mother, who was monitoring the NCAA website on a daily basis. "My initial response to the news was shock. When Morgan Walker (CSUSB's Associate Athletic Director for NCAA Compliance) and I began the application process, I had no idea it would take us this far!"
The 6-foot Haas, a Menifee resident and Temecula Chaparral HS graduate who helped lead the Coyotes win three straight CCAA volleyball titles, a West Region title and the NCAA championship match in 2008, said winning such an award would be "surreal."
"Now, do I think I will actually win? No, I don't. I may have volunteered my time, kept my grades up and was lucky enough to be part of a successful volleyball team, but I don't feel my contributions were anything out of the ordinary.
"As a college student, I wanted to get involved as much as I could, and if what I did is enough to be recognized at a national level, then that's great. But if not, I am still proud of what I was able to do."
Haas received her bachelor's degree in kinesiology (pedagogy) in June commencement ceremonies.
"In the end it goes to show that the opportunities that we are given as collegiate athletes are endless. For those four or five years of our lives we truly have the power to affect change and I applaud the NCAA for recognizing individuals all over the country who jump on such opportunities."
Haas had a cumulative grade point average of 3.83 at CSUSB. She earned all-CCAA, all-West Region and honorable mention all-America as well as Daktronics third-team all-America in volleyball. She served as team captain or co-captain three times.
Academically, she was the Kinesiology department's outstanding graduate in the Class of 2009, graduating with high honors. She received the CCAA's Hal Charnofsky Award for academic excellence and was awarded an academic scholarship at CSUSB from the Martin Matich Family. She was voted to the ESPN-The Magazine/CoSIDA all-academic District 8 first team.
She served as vice-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council for the past two years and voluntarily participated in Relay for Life for three years, Read Across America, the CSUSB Disability Sports Festival, the SAAC Adopt-a-Family program and Make-A-Wish Foundation fund-raisers.
Haas also served as a counselor at Coyote summer youth volleyball camps and was head coach of the Rancho Valley club's 15-under team this past season.
Additionally, the Cal State San Bernardino men's golf team tied for first at the NCAA Championships before losing in a playoff to Sonoma State.
A total of six teams - Cal State Dominguez Hills (men's soccer), Cal State San Bernardino (women's volleyball), Chico State (men's and women's cross country), Cal Poly Pomona (men's basketball) and UC San Diego (baseball) - captured West Regional Championships.
The two national championships marked the first time CCAA member institutions have captured multiple titles in the same academic year in conference-sponsored sports since 2002-03 when Sonoma State and UC Davis claimed Division II championships in men's soccer and softball, respectively.
The CCAA was well represented in postseason play as 61 teams participated in the NCAA Championships, competing in either regional or national championship play.
A total of 21 CCAA teams finished the year ranked in the national Top 25 of their respective sports' polls, including 10 that garnered Top 10 rankings.
Individually, three student-athletes - Scott Bauhs (Chico State, men's cross country), Kevin Gallaugher (Cal State Dominguez Hills, men's soccer) and Vance Albitz (UC San Diego, baseball) were named national players of the year. Albitz was selected the ABCA/Rawlings National Defensive Player of the Year. Cal State Dominguez Hills' Joe Flanagan (men's soccer), Cal State San Bernardino's Kim Cherniss (women's volleyball) and UC San Diego's Dan O'Brien (UC San Diego were selected National Coach of the Year.
Additionally, 67 players were honored with All-American recognition, while five student-athletes garnered Academic All-American recognition, including Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball player Jon Alia, who was named the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA All-America of the Year. UC San Diego women's tennis player Ina Dan received the ITA/Arthur Ashe National Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship.
Eleven individuals received West Region Player of the Year honors, while four coaches were tabbed Coach of the Year and two others were selected Assistant Coach of the Year.
2008-09 CCAA Highlights
National Champions (2):
NCAA Runner-Ups (3):
NCAA Semifinalist (1):
NCAA Individual Champions (5):
National Top 25 Finishes:
National Players of the Year (3):
National Coaches of the Year (3):
All-Americans (67)
West Region Champions (6):
West Region Individual Champions (2):
Teams in NCAA postseason play (61)
CCAA Athletes of the Year:
CCAA Scholar-Athletes of the Year:
Commissioner's Cup Winner:
The following is a sport-by-sport recap:
Women's Cross Country
Men's Soccer
Women's Soccer
Women's Volleyball
Men's Basketball
Women's Basketball
Baseball
Men's Golf
Softball
Women's Tennis
Men's Track and Field
Women's Track and Field
So near and yet so far.
The Cal State San Bernardino men's golf team had hoped to capture the school's first state championship in any sport. But the Coyotes squandered an eight-hole lead and lost a sudden-death playoff to CCAA rival Sonoma State at the Division II national championship at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Wash.
The Coyotes, who came into the event ranked No. 5, started the day eight ahead of Barry (Fla.) and nine ahead of Sonoma State. The No. 6 Seawolves chipped away at that lead and finally drew even on the 18th hole of the day and 72nd of the tournament with the last group of the day on the course.
The Coyotes' team total of 300 was their worst of the four days while the 291 by Sonoma State was the low round from any team any day.
Sonoma State's Patrick Bauer and Cal State's Gene Webster were in that last group. Bauer finished with a bogey at the 416-yard par-4 hole but Webster double-bogeyed.
Not only did that cost the Coyotes a team title, it cost the Arroyo Valley High School product medalist honors. He went all three rounds either in first or tied for first and was even par through three rounds but ended up tied for third with a 77 on the day and a 6-over 290 for the tournament.
Webster was trying to become the school's first medalist at the event since Scott Householder in 1997 when the event was held in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Micah Burke, the lone senior in the Coyotes quartet, placed ninth at 9-over 293 after a 2-over 73 final round. Junior Joe Alldis tied for 14th with an 11-over 295 that included a final-round 75.
Junior Thomas Chu rounded out play with a 77 for a 304 while Kenny Pigman, normally the team's No. 2 player, tallied a 75 for a four-day total of 306.
The Coyotes' second-place finish was the team's best effort in 13 trips to the national championship tournament going back to 1986 when the program was in Division III. The Coyotes finished third in 1988, 1997 and 1998, fourth in 1987 and 1990 and fifth in 1991 giving the program seven top five finishes.
It was a great day for the CCAA, which had its two top golf teams finish 1-2 in the national tournament. It was the first D-2 national title for a CCAA golf team in 35 years dating back to 1974 when Cal State Northridge won the tournament. It was the first win by a California school since UC Davis won it in 1979.
Medalist honors were also decided on an extra hole as Kelbi Lee of Ferris State defeated Gavin Smith of Indiana-Pennsylvania on the first hole. Both finished at 5-over 289 for the tournament.
The golf team is the second team this school year to narrowly miss bringing home the school's first national title. In the fall the women's volleyball team lost in the championship match to Concordia-St. Paul.
However, none of the Coyotes players made it past the Round of 32.
In singles, CSUSB won all three of its matches in the Round of 64. Senior Leslie Horn defeated Kyla Rowe of UC Santa Cruz, 6-3, 7-6 while freshman Janay Palicte downed Mean Dean of Occidental, 6-1, 6-0. Senior Dottie Elwell got past Nicole Harden of LaVerne, 6-1, 3-6, 10-5 (tiebreaker).
In doubles, Elwell and Horn defeated the Occidental duo of Dean and Samantha Melero, 6-3, 6-0, to advance.
In the round of 32 singles, Horn lost to the top player in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, Verena Priekscha of Cal State Stanislaus, 6-0, 6-0. Maria Klokotzky of Fresno Pacific downed Elwell, 6-0, 6-0. Bettina Radke of Hope International beat Palicte 6-1, 6-0.
The doubles team of Elwell-Horn lost in the Round of 32 to Rachel Owens and Kristin Strimple of Point Loma Nazarene, 6-3, 6-0. The Owens-Strimple combo advanced to the championship match before losing.
CSUSB's freshman doubles team of Palicte and Allison Brooks didn't make it out of the Round of 64, losing to the
Palicte and Brooks finished the season with a 7-6 record in doubles while Palicte posted a 7-11 record in singles. Elwell finished the season with a 6-11 record in singles while Horn was 2-14 in singles.
The Ojai pairing of Horn and Elwell in doubles was the first time they had played together all season.
Cal State San Bernardino's softball program picked up two outstanding local talents this week when Erica Prentice of Rim of the
Prentice, a pitcher with eye-popping stats who can play shortstop and hit for average, brings versatility and a strong right arm to the Coyotes while Leffingwell can play the outfield and drive in runs.
Rim of the World has been a strong factor in the Desert Sky League with Prentice leading the way the past two seasons. She earned second-team all-CIF Southern Section honors in 2008, winning 18 games with a 0.45 earned run average and striking out 171 batters. She batted .476 with seven homers and 30 RBI.
In 2007, Prentice recorded 16 wins with a 0.89 ERA and 273 strikeouts while batting .494.
Thus far in 2009, she has five shutouts as the Scots have gotten off to a 7-2 start. She has 66 strikeouts in 37 innings with a 0.95 ERA. Teams are batting just .142 against her offerings. She is hitting .429. Her last outing was a one-hit, 2-0 shutout of
Leffingwell, a right-fielder, will be joining a team that has two of her former teammates at Cajon HS on the squad - sophomore centerfielder Priscilla Curiel and freshman third baseman Alex Mitchell. The Cowgirls are 12-4 this season with Leffingwell leading the team in runs batted in with 20. She has two home runs and is batting .302. The team is 4-0 in the San Andreas League thus far.
In 2008, Leffingwell hit .381 on a team that went 23-7 and won the SAL with a 14-1 record. She had one home run, six doubles and 17 RBI and a .587 slugging percentage to go with a .453 on-base percentage.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced their all-West Region team in NCAA Division II and Brown was voted to the first team and Montgomery to the second team.
Brown, a 6-7 postman who was all-CCAA conference first-team, the CCAA's newcomer of the year and MVP of the CCAA tournament, is now eligible to be considered for the NABC all-America teams that will be announced at the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass later this month.
Earlier last week, Brown was voted by sports information directors in the West Region to the Daktronics all-West Region first team.
Montgomery, a 6-foot guard, was an all-CCAA first-team selection.
Joining Brown on the NABC all-region first team were Larry Gordon of Cal Poly Pomona, Lucas Alves of BYU-Hawaii, Michael Hernandez of Cal State Dominguez Hills, Ira Graham of Western Washington and Jake Linton of Saint Martin's.
Along with Montgomery, the other second-teamers on the NABC all-star teams were Jerrell Smith of CSU Dominguez Hills, Zac Tiedeman of Humboldt State, Matt Penoncello of Central Washington, Kenny Barker of Alaska Anchorage and Jay DeMaestri of Hawaii Hilo.
Greg Kamansky of Cal Poly Pomona was voted coach of the year by the NABC.
Brown led the CCAA in scoring at 21.5 points per game, was No. 3 in rebounding at 8.7 rebounds per game, No.4 in field goal percentage (56.0), No. 1 in blocked shots (39 - 1.7/game) and No. 1 in offensive rebounds per game (2.8). He was the team leader in all those categories.
Humboldt State, which has won 10 straight games, will play for the title at 5:30 p.m. tonight against Cal State Dominguez Hills.
The Coyotes (11-17) , seeded eighth in the field, stunned No. 1 UC San Diego in Tuesday's quarterfinal and played a near flawless first half but couldn't stick with the more well-rounded Lumberjacks (23-6) in the late going.
``We played well but the longer it went the more our weaknesses were exposed,'' Coyotes coach Kevin Becker said. ``They came up with some big shots late and were getting the rebounds. Rebounding and post play have been our problems for us all season.''
The Coyotes led by as many as 14 points in the first half, that
edge coming when Jaclyn Rainville hit a 15-foot jumper to put Cal State up 32-18 with 5:45 left. The Lumberjacks finished the half with a 11-0 run and only trailed 32-27 at the half.
Cal State also hung in early in the second. Humboldt State pulled even at 38-all on a bucket off the inbounds pass by Andrea Bobic. It was later even at 42.
But the visitors then put together a 12-1 that put them ahead for
good. Five of those points came from Katie Franci. The run also
included a 3-pointer by Jennifer Enos. The Lumberjacks built a
double-digit lead for the first time at 54-43 on a bucket underneath by Taylor.
The Coyotes last ditch effort came when Shannon Gholar scored on a layup after a steal at the Humboldt end that made it 56-50 with 2:03 to play. But the Lumberjacks pulled away at the free-throw line, making seven of eight tries the rest of the way with reserve Luiza Osborne hitting all six of hers.
Cal State shot 32.4 percent (23-for-71) for the game but had only one player in double figures, that being Morgan Pryor who tallied 20 points. Krystal Urza and Rainville chipped in with nine each. Rainville also snagged a team-high eight rebounds while Ashlee Ford had six assists.
Humboldt, ranked fourth in the West Region, shot 41.5 percent
(22-for-53) from the field and 69.2 percent (18-for-26) from the
line. It also benefited from a 49-40 edge on the boards.
It had four players finish in double figures led by Brittany Taylor
with 15. Franci contributed 13 points and 16 rebounds.
``They can score from all five positions. That's different than any
other team in the conference,'' Becker added. ``And they have
multiple threats in most places.''
Becker was pleased with how his team finished after losing nine
straight games midway through conference play.
``The coaching staff was very positive with us,'' Pryor said. ``They didn't give up on us and didn't let us give up on ourselves. We had our ups and downs. It would have been a better season if the ups had lasted a little longer.''
C S DOMINGUEZ HILLS 74
CHICO STATE 61
Sophomore Neka Mixon scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists to lead the Toros (20-9) past the Wildcats (16-13) in the other semifinal. Third-seeded Dominguez also got 10 points and five assists from Etiwanda graduate Aujanee Baldwin.
Chico State's Melissa Richardson led all scorers with 18 points.
The Cal State San Bernardino men's basketball team escaped - again.
The Coyotes slipped past longtime nemesis UC San Diego 76-72 in a CCAA Tournament semifinal Friday night to earn a spot in tonight's 7:30 p.m. title game against unheralded Cal State Monterey Bay (16-13).
The Coyotes (19-9) nipped Sonoma State 79-77 in Tuesday's
quarterfinal and coach Jeff Oliver is pleased to see his team start knocking down some shots at crunch time, something it had trouble with earlier in the season.
``We're making the most of our opportunities and taking advantage of some mismatches," Oliver said. ``I think it's a matter of our guys better understanding their roles and feeling more comfortable in the offense. It's good to see.''
The Coyotes led by as many as 11 in the second half, that lead coming at 62-51 with 8:45 left. But the Tritons (17-11) came back as they always do. San Diego evened the game at 67 on a baseline drive by Shane Poppen, who surged past defender Brandon Brown, playing it safe after being called for his fourth foul.
The game was tied again at 70 with 1:40 to play. The Coyotes got a fadeaway jumper from Tim Denson to go up 72-70 with 1:13 left. The Tritons failed to answer as Kelvin Kim missed an open look from the top of the key, his favorite shot.
Cal State's Devin Montgomery scrambled for the rebound with 45 seconds left and sank a pair of free throw to up the lead to four, 74-70.
Montgomery was at the line twice more and delivered two with 18.2 seconds left and one of two later to seal the outcome.
``I was just trying to relax and make them,'' Montgomery said. ``I
was in that position before and didn't come through. I wasn't really thinking about it, but I was thinking about it. I didn't want to fail in that position again.''
The Coyotes, ranked seventh in the West Region, shot 57.4 percent (27-for-47) from the field with Brown's 22 leading the way. Montgomery and Denson contributed 15 and 13 respectively. DuBois Williams had a steady game with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
San Diego came in needing to win the tournament to advance to the West Region Tournament, something it did last year. The Tritons got 24 from Jordan Lawley and 16 each from Alan Husted Poppen.
The Coyotes entered the tournament seeded third despite claiming a share of the regular season title for the eighth time in 10 years. Monterey Bay was the seventh seed but it upended No. 2 Cal State Dominguez Hills on Tuesday, then followed with an ugly-but-effective win over the top-seeded Broncos.
Cal State swept both regular season meetings against the Otters.
``That's going to be another tough one,'' Oliver said. ``They play
hard and don't quit and they have the momentum right now.''
For the Cal State San Bernardino men's basketball team the task is simple -- win the CCAA tournament or the season is over.
The Coyotes (17-9, 15-5) painted themselves into a corner with losses to Cal Poly Pomona and UC San Diego. Now, there is no margin for error.
The Coyotes open play in the CCAA tournament at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Coussoulis Arena against Sonoma State (12-15, 8-12), with whom they split during the regular season.
The good news for coach Jeff Oliver's team is that Friday's semifinals and Saturday's finals will also be at Coussoulis, where the team is 10-1 this season.
Cal State is ranked 10th in the region and needs to be eighth to secure a spot in the West Region tournament. There are a half a dozen teams in the hunt for the last few spots, a couple of whom are playing in the CCAA event.
The winner of the CCAA tournament gets the conference's automatic playoff bid.
"We need to win at least two and even that leaves room for doubt," Oliver said. "We're going in with the mindset that we have to win three."
The Coyotes were part of a three-way tie for first with Cal Poly Pomona (19-6, 15-5) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (21-6, 15-5), giving them at least a share of the conference title for the eighth time in 10 years. But the seeding for the tournament came down to a third tiebreaker.
The Broncos, who will host San Francisco State (14-13, 8-12) in an opening-round game, were 2-0 against Cal State Los Angeles (the ninth-place team and the best of the teams that didn't make the tournament) compared to Cal State Dominguez Hills' 1-1 mark against the Golden Eagles.
The Coyotes were made the third seed based on their 9-5 record against tournament teams. Both Pomona and Dominguez Hills had 10-4 marks.
That logic mystifies Oliver.
"You're rewarding Dominguez and Pomona for losing to teams that are the bottom of the barrel, that didn't make the tournament. That doesn't make sense," he said.
While Sonoma State has played the Coyotes tough, it has not had an answer for big man Brandon Brown (20.6 points per game, 8.9 rebounds), who has scored 45 points in the two games against the Seawolves and is coming off a 32-point showing against San Francisco State on Friday.
"He has been dominant," Oliver said. "He has had head on straight and doing a better job of not letting adversity get to him."
Cal State women headed south
The Cal State women will need to repeat their upset of two weeks ago to get another home game as they will play their CCAA tournament opener at RIMAC Arena against top-seeded UC San Diego (26-3, 19-1), which also comes in ranked ninth nationally.
Coach Kevin Becker's team, finishing in a three-way tie for sixth, was last in the pecking order when it came to the tiebreaker, so it was left with the eighth seed.
The Coyotes (10-16, 8-12) were the only conference team to beat the Tritons, doing so 64-59 on Feb. 14, behind the scoring punch of unheralded players Lisa Takata and Ana Onaindia.
"Obviously, they're going to be ready for us," Becker said. "We're going to have to play even better than we did the last time we played them."
