BYU-Hawaii faces Cal State San Bernardino in 1st round of NCAAs

(Courtesy BYU-Hawaii Sports Information)

Laie, HI - The Brigham Young University Hawaii women's volleyball received the number eight seed at the NCAA II West Regional Tournament and will face the host school, second-ranked nationally and top-seeded Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday at 7:30 pm PST in the first round of the tournament.

The Seasiders earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the championship of the Pacific West Conference.

BYU-Hawaii and Cal State San Bernardino met earlier this season at the Triton Invitational in San Diego with the Coyotes winning 14-25, 25-20, 17-25, 10-25.

However, the Seasiders were without the services of senior middle blocker Faylynn Merrick at the time of that match. Merrick sat out several matches early in the season with an ankle injury.

Even at full strength the Seasiders will have their work cut out for them in taking on the Coyotes on their home floor.

CSUSB will enter the match with a 25-3 overall record and that high national ranking.  BYU-Hawaii has lost its last three matches and enters the tournament with a record of 16-8.

Should the Seasiders win on Thursday, they would meet the winner of a match between Chico State (20-10) and Sonoma State (23-6) on Friday with the winner of that match advancing to the regional title match on Saturday.

The four teams in the other side of the bracket at the tournament are Cal Poly Pomona (18-7), Western Oregon (22-2), Cal State Los Angeles (20-7) and UC San Diego (21-6).