SAN MARCOS, Calif.— Making its third appearance in the NAIA National Championships in just its third season as a program, the Cal State San Marcos volleyball team has its sights set on making a return trip to the tournament's final site in Sioux City, Iowa. To do so, they will have to beat The Master's College— a team the Cougars beat in Iowa during last year's championships.
The Schedule
Match 38 – NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Opening Round
Saturday, November 23 –7:00 p.m.
Cal State San Marcos (26-11) at No. 16 The Master's College (19-8)
Santa Clarita, Calif. – Bross Gym
Live Video
Live Stats
Beat TMC
The women's volleyball team isn't the only CSUSM squad taking on The Master's College in Santa Clarita on Saturday. The women's soccer team will play TMC at 1:00 p.m. at Reese Field in the NAIA Opening Round preceding the volleyball match. Use the hashtag #BeatTMC all week long, especially on Saturday, when talking about the game on your various social media channels. Beat TMC!
CSUSM In The Postseason
The Cougars (26-11) reached their third consecutive appearance in the the NAIA National Championships by virtue of winning the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Championship last weekend, defeating tournament host and second-seed Ashford in four sets 25-27, 25-23, 28-26, 25-21. Alyssa Foster was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while Taylor DeGraaf, Markisha Henderson-Diaz, and Taylor Harris were each named to the All-Tournament team.
Prior to the tournament last week, the Cougars had four players named to the All-Conference team, with both DeGraaf winning the A.I.I. Player of the Year and Foster claiming the A.I.I. Setter of the Year for the second straight season. Henderson-Diaz and Erin Talafus were also named to the team, while Alyssa Hubbard narrowly missed out, earning All-Conference honorable mention despite being injured for a good portion of the season.
CSUSM boasts a lifetime record of 14-3 in the postseason, including a perfect 12-0 record in the A.I.I. Championships. The Cougars are 1-1 in the opening round of the NAIA Tournament, most recently defeating 22nd ranked Vanguard in four sets on the road in 2012 to advance to Sioux City. In their opening match in Iowa, the Cougars swept the No. 6 Mustangs 25-22, 25-20, 25-22 behind an all-around efficient attack, committing just 14 errors in 112 attempts and recording nine service aces to just six serving errors. DeGraaf led all scorers with 12 kills, while Foster tallied 28 assists and nine digs.
The Mustangs ended up defeating the Cougars in a one-set tiebreak later in the tournament to land the final spot in the tournament's 12 remaining teams. CSUSM is 2-3 all-time against The Master's, but the teams have not met this season. Cal State San Marcos has defeated 10 ranked opponents in school history, most recently being No. 10 Westmont earlier this season to give the Cougars their sixth career win over a top-10 program.
TMC Preview
The Master's (19-8) opened this season winning eight of their first nine games en route to a 14-3 record, but has been stumbling towards the finish lately, splitting their last five games with a 5-5 record. The Mustangs are without two of their top three attackers from last season, as well as three of their top blockers. As a result, their team attack percentage dropped from .250 down to .234 this season, and they went from 227 team blocks a year ago down to just 122 this season, posing less of a threat to opposing attackers.
Still, the Mustangs return Sam Dougherty, who ranks sixth nationally with 4.22 kills per set—one spot ahead of DeGraaf (4.19)—and several capable defenders that make The Master's tough to score on. TMC went 8-6 in Golden State Athletic Conference play and finished fourth in the very competitive league. The Mustangs had impressive conference victories over Westmont and Vanguard early in GSAC play.
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