RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Azusa Pacific volleyball was looking for its second consecutive comeback from down two sets in its first trip to the NCAA West Regional, but Cal State San Bernardino snatched a back-and-forth fifth set for a 3-2 (25-10, 25-23, 14-25, 21-25, 15-13) win to advance to the NCAA West Regional semifinals on Thursday night in Van Dyne Gym.
 
Box Score

With the win, the No. 4 Coyotes (22-7) advance to the NCAA semifinals, where they will play the winner of No. 8 Sonoma State and No. 1 California Baptist at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The Cougars wrapped up the season with a 22-7 record and its first trip in program history to the NCAA postseason.
 
In the regular-season finale, Azusa Pacific came back from a 0-2 deficit against Notre Dame de Namur and nearly did the same thing in the regional quarterfinals. However, the Coyotes picked up their second five-set win in their last five matches to keep their season alive.
 
“The girls battled and did a nice job to come back and it showed a lot of our character,” head coach Chris Keife said. “We started five freshmen last year and won nine of our last 10 matches. We’re still a young team and we improved a lot since last season.”
 
Cal State San Bernardino, in its 18th consecutive trip to the NCAA West Regional, showed that it was in a familiar position in the first set with a 25-10 win over Azusa Pacific in its first NCAA postseason match. The Cougars led 16-11 in the second set, but the Coyotes bounced back quickly to take the set 25-23.
 
Azusa Pacific kept its season alive with a .270 hitting percentage in third set to run away with it, 25-14. The Cougars continued to hit well in the fourth set at a .283 clip to take the set 25-11. Middle blocker Sara Wagenveld led Azusa Pacific in hitting percentage for the match with nine kills on 18 attacks.
 
The Cougars took its first lead of the match after winning the first point in the fifth set. A Sophia Newhouse ace gave Azusa Pacific a 12-11 lead in the fifth set, but Cal State San Bernardino won the next three points and eventually took the fifth set 15-13.
 
Madison Ogas finished with a team-high 15 kills for the Cougars, while Kaylen Higa tallied a double-double with 26 assists and 11 digs. Libero Bailey Henington finished the match with 25 digs and three aces. The Coyote offense was led by Hailey Jackson with 17 kills with three errors on 40 attacks, while Hayann DeHoog had a match-high 51 assists.