San Bernardino aims to take care of business at regionals

Control what can be controlled.

It’s the mantra of many a successful coach.

It’s the ability to focus on goals without being distracted by the peripheral.

It’s what Kim Cherniss reminded her players every time the Cal State San Bernardino volleyball team took the court. Just win and the rest takes care of itself.

It’s exactly what happened with the Coyotes winning 22 of their last 23 matches, including a critical five-set victory on the road at then-regional No. 1 UC San Diego on Nov. 20. It gave San Bernardino the series sweep with its California Collegiate Athletic Association rival as well as the Coyotes’ eighth straight CCAA title.

It also led to the Coyotes vaulting over Brigham Young-Hawaii, No. 2 in the regional rankings, and gave them hosting duties for the NCAA II West Regional for the seventh time in the past eight seasons. Regional play begins today with four matches, starting with third-seeded UCSD taking on sixth seed Dixie State, which finished second in the PacWest to BYUH.

"We knew our only hope (of hosting) was that we couldn’t lose another match," said Cherniss, whose team last lost on Oct. 26 to visiting Sonoma State. "We felt that beating UCSD would meet all the criteria needed to host, the strength of schedule, the head-to-head in the regional.

"We feel really good about being home. It was something we wanted, something we were striving for, especially since we’re in finals this week."

Although the Coyotes are home again — their hosting streak was snapped last season when BYU-Hawaii hosted the regional — it will be different than previous times. It is the first time that the regional will conflict with CSUSB finals week and the tournament will be held in Coyote Den (1,100 seats) instead of Coussoulis Arena (5,000 seats) due to graduation.

"Coussoulis is probably the finest arena in all of Division II," Cherniss said. "It is disappointing that we aren’t in there, but The Den is a good volleyball gym, a great wood floor and it will be very intimate for the crowd. How many do we expect? I don’t know. This is the first time we’ve had a conflict with finals."

BYU-Hawaii, winning its last 17 matches, has played in the regional at CSUSB the three years prior to 2012, but never in The Den. The Seasiders prepared for the smaller facility by practicing at their Old Gym prior to leaving for California earlier this week.

The bigger adjustment, however, will be with the lineup. Starting sophomore libero Ho‘onani Apo remained in Hawaii after retearing the ACL in her left knee during practice last Wednesday; replacing her is senior Melanie Manutai, the starting libero the past three seasons.

"Mel has been our starter the past three years, I think we’ll be OK," said first-year BYUH coach Mona Ah-Hoy. "We’ve had some good practices and the girls are ready.

"It’s one match at a time from here on. We have to take care of (Alaska) Anchorage first."

Cherniss feels her team has grown this season.

"If we see (BYUH) … we’re a different team than when we played them last year," Cherniss said. "We had five freshmen starters and a senior setter. They still have the ‘trinity’ … those girls are awful good."

Cherniss was referring to BYUH’s junior trio from Taiwan: hitter Shih Ting Chen, the three-time PacWest player of the year, setter Ying Chun Chen and middle Erh Fang Hsu.

Last season, BYUH advanced to the national semifinals. CSUSB was the national runner-up in 2011, swept at home in Coussoulis Arena by powerhouse Concordia-St. Paul.