The folks in charge of choosing which teams have earned a spot in the NCAA Championships site a team’s “body of work.” They are referring to the importance of a team’s performance from the season’s first day to its last. Those close to the Chico State volleyball program are familiar with the phrase and its meaning.
After all, the Wildcats’ postseason fate over the past four years has been closely linked with its performance outside of the rigorous California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule. In 2006 the Wildcats swept through non-conference action with a perfect 5-0 mark and earned the first of three straight NCAA berths. A 7-3 mark in a grueling non-conference campaign in 2007 helped get them in despite a 16-12 regular-season record. Impressive sweeps against Northwest Nazarene, Seattle Pacific, and Hawaii Hilo were vital resume builders for the 2008 NCAA Tournament team.
But last season, despite a 23-9 season, Seattle Pacific edged Chico State for the last West Region NCAA berth and an early-season defeat was a major culprit. The Wildcats’ loss to Northwest Nazarene in their third match of the season became especially troublesome when the Crusaders stumbled down the stretch of the season and finished tied for fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, well behind Seattle Pacific.
All of that underscores the fact that the returning Wildcats hope to kick off a challenging 2010 schedule in good form at the Seawolf Spike Tournament, hosted by Sonoma State, Sept. 3-4. Three of the four teams on Chico State’s schedule over those two days finished near the top of their respective conferences last season.
Following their non-conference home opener against William Jessup on Sept. 7, the Wildcats will enter into the conference fray with a road trip to Cal State L.A. – one of three CCAA teams that Chico State will face twice that finished among the nation’s top-15 last season – and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sept. 10-11.
They’ll need to get off to a good start in the CCAA standings as nine of their next 12 conference affairs will be at home, including matchups with UC San Diego (Sept. 24) and Cal State L.A. (Oct. 16), which finished last season ranked No. 7 and No. 15 in the nation, respectively.
The Wildcats will welcome last season’s No. 2 ranked team, Cal State San Bernardino, in the 2010 home finale on Nov. 6, before wrapping up the season with a road trip to Cal State Monterey Bay and San Francisco State Nov. 12-13.
With at least 10 players returning from last season’s 23-win team, the Wildcats will be hoping to start their fourth NCAA Championship run in five seasons at the NCAA Championship Tournament Pacific Regional Nov. 18-20.
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