Tuesday, May 23, 2017

CSUSB Volleyball's Cherniss keeps 'Yotes streak going- 2016

By Lauren Jennings

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.- For the past 32 years the Coyote volleyball team has been establishing a name for itself, making the playoffs 21 times while having just two different head coaches.
The Coyotes hosted the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) tournament this month at the Coussoulis Arena. With an overall record of 19-4 and a CCAA record of 13-2, there’s no question the Coyotes will be in the playoffs yet again.
Head coach Kim Cherniss has been at the helm for 26 years after taking over for original head coach Naomi Ruderman in 1991.
Cherniss offers some last minute advice to her player.
Cherniss has been awarded the “2008 AVCA NCAA Division II Coach of the Year, is a five-time AVCA West Region and has earned the title of CCAA Coach of the Year,” according to CSUSB Athletics.
“Kim has taught me resiliency and has pushed me further than what I thought I could give,” said All-American outside hitter, Malika O’Brien.
“She’s helped me break my own boundaries and challenged me to give more of myself,” continued O’Brien.

Ruderman lead the Coyotes to the playoffs five times as a Division III school while Cherniss has made a playoff appearance 16 times as a Division II team.
Ruderman stepped in as the Coyotes head coach in 1984 when the team was first established. She would go on to tally up an overall record of 144 wins and 101 losses.
The Coyotes then looked to current head coach Cherniss to continue Ruderman’s success.
Her career with the Coyotes got off to a slow start as the team had just become a Division II and had just entered the CCAA conference.
Some of Cherniss's many CCAA Chmpionship banners.
Cherniss and the Coyotes failed to make the playoffs in her first nine years after having made them five years in a row with Ruderman.
It wasn’t for lack of trying, though. Cherniss has posted a winning record since 1997.
She has brought CSUSB 11 CCAA championships with her first coming in 2001. She then went on to win two more after that in 2002 and 2003.
She won eight more in a row from 2006 to 2013.
She has also helped the Coyotes earn six National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Region Championships. She won two back-to-back in 2003 and 2004.
She brought home four more consecutively from 2008 to 2011.
“It’s an honor playing for a coach with so many championships to her name,” said O’Brien.
“It’s one of the things that attracted me to CSUSB,” added O’Brien.
Cherniss’ playoff record sits at 41 wins and just 16 losses.
Her overall record, up to the conclusion of last season, sits at 575 wins and just 209 losses.
This season, Cherniss and the Coyotes have gone 8-0 at home, 8-2 on the road and 5-2 at neutral sites.
The team played in the Ferris State Invitational to start the season back in September. They went 3-1, including a win over no. 8 ranked Ferris State University.
The team next played in the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase where they again went 3-1, beating no. 14 ranked Western Washington University and no. 25 ranked Cal Baptist University.
There next 17 games were all played against fellow CCAA opponents. The only two conference teams to beat the Coyotes have been the Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles and the Wildcats of Chico State.
Their regular season final record tallied 21 wins and just four losses while their CCAA record was a conference-best 15-2.

On Nov. 17, they played the Cal State East Bay Pioneers in the CCAA quarterfinals. They swept the Pioneers, 3-0. 

On Nov. 18, they played the Sonoma State Seawolves in the semifinals, winning 3-1.
The big redeemer came on Nov. 19 when they played the Wildcats again in the finals. The game was long and exciting, going all five sets.
The Coyotes and Wildcats went back and forth, matching each other point for point in each set, but the Coyotes came out on top in the fifth set.

The win earned them the title of 2016 CCAA volleyball champions and moved them into the NCAA West Regional.
Cherniss holds up the CCAA trophy



The team is currently on a 15 game win streak with a win percentage of .882, an impressive feat for any team.
They will travel to Alaska to play the Central Washington University Wildcats in the first round of play on Dec. 1.
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