Cal State L.A. Athletics

 

2009 CSULA Record: 21-8. CCAA Record: 17-5, Third Place

2009 NCAA West Region Seed: 6

 

Golden Eagles Headed To NCAA Playoffs For Sixth Straight Year: Cal State L.A.’s women’s volleyball team, which has won more than 20 games for the second straight season and for the third time in the past five years, has qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs for the sixth consecutive year. Cal State L.A. earned the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed Sonoma State in a first-round match Thursday at noon. The winner will face the winner of the match between No. 2 seed UC San Diego and No. 7 seed San Francisco State in a semi-final contest on Friday at 5 p.m. The championship match will be held on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Golden Eagles are continuing their impressive string of postseason appearances. Cal State L.A. has qualified for the NCAA playoffs in 10 of the last 11 years. The Golden Eagles captured the 2005 Pacific Region championship in the Eagles Nest and reached the regional semi-finals in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Cal State L.A. will be making its 15^th NCAA Division II playoff appearance, which is tied for the most among all current West Region programs. Cal Poly Pomona also has 15 appearances, although the Broncos are not in the 2009 postseason.

 

Who’s In: Eight teams from the West Region qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs as part of a 64-team championship field. Cal State San Bernardino earned the No. 1 seed and the opportunity to host after capturing the California Collegiate Athletic Association title for a fourth straight time. The Coyotes will be hosting for the fourth straight season, but this time the tourney will be held in “The Den,” because of a scheduling conflict in Coussoulis Arena. Cal State San Bernardino, ranked second in the nation, is 29-1 one season after reaching the NCAA Division II title game. Cal State San Bernardino has reached the regional championship match nine straight times and won regional titles in 2003, 2004 and 2008. UC San Diego is the No. 2 seed after finishing second in the CCAA and posting an overall record of 28-2. The Tritons are making their fourth straight trip to the NCAA playoffs and won the West Region in 2006. Sonoma State is the No. 3 seed after posting a 23-7 overall record and finishing fourth in the CCAA. This is the highest seed the Seawolves have earned in three NCAA appearances. Sonoma State was the No. 4 seed last year. Pacific West Conference champion Hawaii-Hilo is the fourth seed and enters the tournament with a 25-1 record. The Vulcans’ only loss was a three-set stunner at conference foe Dixie State. Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Alaska Anchorage is the No. 5 seed after setting a new school record for conference wins (14) and posting a 22-6 overall record. Cal State L.A. earned the No. 6 seed after finishing third in the CCAA with a 17-5 record and posting a 21-8 overall mark. San Francisco State is the No. 7 seed after posting a 20-10 overall record and finishing sixth in the CCAA. The Gators are making their second NCAA appearance and first since 1987. Seattle Pacific, the runner-up in the GNAC, is the No. 8 seed and comes in with a 16-11 overall record.

 

No. 3 Sonoma State (22-7) vs. No. 6 Cal State L.A. (21-8)

No. 2 UC San Diego (28-2) vs. No. 7 San Francisco State (20-10)

No. 4 Hawaii-Hilo (25-1) vs. No. 5 Alaska Anchorage (22-6)

No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino (29-1) vs. No. 8 Seattle Pacific (16-11)

Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 5 p.m.

Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 7:30 p.m.

Championship Match, 7 p.m.

 

Head To Head: Cal State L.A. will be facing Sonoma State for the third time this season and the teams split regular-season matches. Sonoma State rallied to win the first meeting, 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-9, in Rohnert Park on Sept. 12. Chelsea Hamilton and Zuzana Cizova had 16 kills each for the Golden Eagles, while Kassie Faulkner had 12 kills and five blocks. Cal State L.A. won the rematch, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 in Los Angeles on Oct. 15. Gabriela Bulawczyk had 12 kills and 17 digs to lead the Golden Eagles. This will be the first NCAA playoff meeting between the two programs. Cal State L.A. has faced every other qualifier this season except for Hawaii-Hilo. The Golden Eagles are 0-2 against Cal State San Bernardino, 0-2 against UC San Diego, 1-1 against Sonoma State, 0-1 against Alaska Anchorage, 2-0 against San Francisco State and 1-0 against Seattle Pacific. In postseason action, Cal State L.A. is 1-2 against Cal State San Bernardino (W in 2005, L in 2000, 2007), 1-1 against UC San Diego (W in 2008, L in 2006), 0-0 against Sonoma State, Hawaii-Hilo, Alaska Anchorage and San Francisco State and 1-0 against Seattle Pacific (W in 2005).

 

Golden Eagles Add To Postseason History: Cal State L.A.’s women’s volleyball program has maintained its status as one of the elite programs in the NCAA Division II West Region. The Golden Eagles have reached the playoffs in six straight years, 10 out of 11 and 11 out of 13. Cal State L.A. reached the national semi-finals in 2005 after winning the Pacific Region championship as the No. 1 seed with wins over Seattle Pacific, Hawaii Pacific and Cal State San Bernardino in the Eagles Nest. The Golden Eagles have advanced to the regional semi-finals the three seasons. Last season, No. 7 Cal State L.A. knocked off No. 2 UC San Diego, 24-26, 19-25, 26-24, 25-23, 15-13 in the first round before falling in the semi-finals to No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona in five sets. In 2007, No. 5 Cal State L.A. beat No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona in five sets, 28-30, 30-26, 30-22, 32-34, 19-17 in a first-round thriller before falling to No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino in four sets in the semi-finals. In 2006, the Golden Eagles advanced to the regional semi-finals before falling in five games to eventual region champion UC San Diego. The Golden Eagles opened the tourney as the No. 6 seed and beat No. 3 seed BYU-Hawaii in the first round, 23-30, 27-30, 30-23, 30-28, 17-15. The Golden Eagles then built a 2-1 lead against UC San Diego before the Tritons rallied to post a 30-23, 18-30, 23-30, 30-24, 15-8 victory. Cal State L.A. is 7-4 in the playoffs over the past four seasons and has a 14-15 record in 14 previous appearances.

The Leaders Of The Stats: The Golden Eagles have five players who have more than 100 kills this season. Gabriela Bulawczyk leads the team with 395 kills and is second in service aces (27) and digs (329). Zuzana Cizova is second on the team with 259 kills and third in service aces with 20. Chelsea Hamilton is third in kills with 235. Marquis Mora is fourth with 217 kills and she leads the team with 103 blocks, which is tied for fifth on the all-time single-season list. Mary Laupepa is fifth in kills with 147 and she leads the team in service aces (34) and is second in blocks with 73. Stefanie Gay leads the team in digs for the second straight season with 446 and Kaylynne De La Rosa leads the team with 1,042 set assists and also has 92 kills and 264 digs.

 

There’s A New Leader In Charge: Cal State L.A. continues to thrive this season under first-year head coach Randi Smart. She replaced longtime coach Bill Lawler, who resigned after 13 years with the program. Lawler left with a 274-112 record at Cal State L.A. Smart was an assistant coach at Cal State L.A. last year and helped the program record its 12^th straight winning record and qualify for the NCAA playoffs. In Smart’s first season as head coach, Cal State L.A. is 21-8 heading into the postseason and has won more than 20 games for the second straight year and for the third time in the past five years. Smart had 11 years of assistant coaching experience before taking the reigns of the Cal State L.A. program this season. Before becoming an assistant at Cal State L.A. in 2008, Smart spent four seasons at Cal Poly Pomona and helped the Broncos post their best season ever in 2005 when they went 24-3 and won a CCAA co-championship (with Cal State L.A., ironically enough). Before that, she was an assistant coach at La Verne for six seasons. The highlight of her tenure came in 2001 when the Leopards won the national title. As an added bonus, she got to coach her younger sister, Ryan Winn, who was an All-American setter for the Leopards and was the 2001 Division III National Player of the Year.