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Toros Athletics 2007-08: A Year That Was...
5/27/2008 12:23:35 PM
Carson, CA -- The 2007-08 Cal State Dominguez Hills athletic year was another smashing success. Bolstered by the second-consecutive and unprecedented eighth CCAA Championship won by men’s soccer in the fall, the Toros rode that momentum through the spring where the softball team finished just three wins away from earning a berth in its first ever World Series.
In between those bookends were a women’s soccer team that qualified for the NCAA postseason for the third time in four years, a resurgence by the men’s basketball team that enjoyed its best season in over a decade, two top 10 team and three top 20 individual finishes from the men’s golf team, and a freshman track and field star who took home a CCAA Title in the 400 meter dash and boasted the nation’s 6th-fastest time in that event entering the NCAA Outdoor T&F Championships.
Throw in 4 All-Americans highlighting 66 individual awards, and already we can’t wait for the start of fall double-days in August.
Here’s a recap of the year that was the Cal State Dominguez Hills 2007-08 year in athletics.
VOLLEYBALL
(2-27, 1-17 CCAA)
The 2007 season was a tough debut for interim head coach Scott Davenport as injuries piled up week after week, cutting the Toro roster down to nine at one point during the season en route to CSUDH suffering through a 2-27 overall record. Three Toro seniors, however, made the most of their last season in Cardinal and Gold, elevating their respective games and etching their names in the CSUDH record books.
Kayleigh Spratt fought through three different head coaches in four years and splitting setting duties to end up with 1,635 career sets to place her 6th all-time, while fellow senior Sophia Lopes notched her 15th double-double of the season in the Toros’ last match to her place her amongst the best Toros in recent memory. Lopes is currently 7th all-time in attack attempts in a season (1,041), 7th all-time for kill in a season (343), and tied for 9th all-time for attack attempts in a match (66).
Fellow senior Jenise Espindola picked up 25 digs in her last match to give her a season total of 351, placing her 10th all-time for digs in a season. Espindola also is tied for 3rd all-time for service aces in a match (7) and tied for 8th all-time for digs in a match (31).
Next season the Toros return a solid core of offensive sophomores in Ashley Clark, Marissa Anderson, and a defensive specialist in Melissa Velasco, along with seniors Travette Pettigrew and TaMesha Jefferson, in hopes of cracking the upper echelon of the nation’s best volleyball conference.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
(14-5-4, 8-3-3 CCAA, NCAA Far West Region 2nd Round)
With nine seniors on the 2007 roster, including five 4-year seniors, hopes were high for a CCAA Championship. However, after starting the season with a 2-1 win over No. 6 University of Nebraska Omaha that highlighted a 3-0-1 start, the Toros were winless in their next two games to kick off the CCAA schedule before running off eight wins and a tie in their next nine contests, including a tie against then-No. 2 UC San Diego on September 19, followed by a win at the then-No. 6 Tritons on October 10.
Things then turned against the Toros as they dropped two of their next three, and although they forged a tie with Cal Poly Pomona and bested Cal State San Bernardino on “Senior Day,” that lull secured an undesirable match-up with the Wildcats in a semi-final meeting, which resulted in a 2-0 CSUC win in the CCAA Tournament. CSUDH, however, qualified for the NCAA playoffs for the third time in four years and took a 2-1 overtime win over UC San Diego in the first round, but fell to undefeated and host Seattle Pacific in the second round, ending the Toros’ season at 14-5-4.
Individually, Corrie Hirokawa and Sandy Lloyd capped their stellar careers by picking up both Daktronics 1st-team All-Region and 1st-team All-CCAA honors to lead six Toros who received year-end accolades. Yvonne Vasquez also earned 1st-team All-CCAA honors while being named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
Although CSUDH bid a fond farewell to their nine seniors, the Toros return a potent 1-2 offensive punch in Vasquez and 3rd-team All-CCAA selections Kelly Matosian and keeper Alyssa Congdon.
No. 10 MEN’S SOCCER
(18-3-2, 12-2 CCAA, CCAA Champions, NCAA Far West Region 2nd Round)
The men’s soccer team captured its second-consecutive CCAA Championship with a 1-0 win over Sonoma State on November 4, giving the program its unprecedented eighth conference title, and head coach Joe Flanagan a great birthday present. That win boosted the Toros to the top seed in the Far West, and granted CSUDH hosting duties in the NCAA Playoffs for the third-consecutive year. Sonoma State, however, would get the best of the Toros in the Far West Championship game, exacting their revenge by way of a penalty kick “win,” ending the Toros’ season at 18-3-2.
Despite not advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals, the 2007 campaign was filled with honors. Sophomore Derby Carrillo was named a 1st-team Daktronics All-American, 1st-team Daktronics All-Region and 1st-team All-CCAA selection. Kevin Gallaugher also earned All-America honorable mention honors and accrued 1st-team All-Region, 1st-team All-CCAA and the CCAA Newcomer of the Year awards as well, while Sammy Rivas notched NSCAA 1st-team All-America honors.
All in all, the Toros placed three players on the Daktronics All-Region team, with sophomore Mario Guerrero making the 2nd-team, while eight players overall (1st-team:Carrillo, Gallaugher, Jose Serpas, Rivas; 2nd-team: Humberto Lopez; 3rd-team: Guerrero, Devin Toohey, Andrew Marinez) were chosen to All-CCAA squads.
Although CSUDH bade farewell to seven seniors, the Toros return a bevy of experienced and talented personnel, including two of their three award-winning sophomores, in their attempt to three-peat and advance deeper into the NCAA postseason.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Senior Kelly Corral raised her game for her last season as a Toro, recording the top Toro time in every meet in which she ran.
The Long Beach native also decreased her times from the previous season, including cutting two and a half minutes off her time at the NCAA DII Cross Country Regional, checking in with a time of 24:36 vs 27:05 in 2006.
On the heels of Corral all season was her former Cerritos JC teammate Liliana Yera, who finished behind Corral in every meet in which they both competed.
In Yera’s three 5k meets on the season, the Bellflower native chipped away at her time, recording a 23:03 at Westmont in the first meet of the year, then a 21:13 at Bakersfield, and finally a 21:05 in Riverside.
Senior Janet Ramer (formerly Antunez) was a bit of a surprise for the Toros this season after making the transition from soccer player to long distance runner after multiple knee surgeries kept her off the soccer field.
Ramer made her cross country debut at the Westmont Invitational with a time of 25:44, but then cut over three minutes from that time in her next meet to turn in a time of 22:19.
Ramer’s improvement continued when the distance was stretched to 6k, with consecutive times of 29:08, 27.05, and finally 26:58 at the NCAA Regionals.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
(17-1, 11-9 CCAA, CCAA Conference Tournament Semifinals)
The Toros men’s basketball team enjoyed its best season in over a decade after posting a 17-11 overall and 11-9 mark in the CCAA Conference, the most overall wins for CSUDH in 12 years.
After the conference coaches set the bar high by predicting a 4th place finish for the Toros in the CCAA preseason poll, CSUDH responded by winning 6 of its first 9 games to kick off the season. After falling to three of the top conference teams over the next three games, the Toros reeled off six-consecutive wins to put themselves in prime position for conference and national post-season play, including convincing victories at Humboldt State (73-64) and Sonoma State (66-55) for wins five and six, two road wins no other team in the conference was able to accomplish.
The Toros looked good heading into the final eight regular season games, but a 4-4 record, including a loss to the last place team in its final regular season game, left the Toros needing to win the CCAA title to earn a berth in the national playoffs.
Entering the CCAA Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed, CSUDH traveled to Seaside for its first round game against Cal State Monterey Bay after splitting the two regular season contests as each team won on the opponent’s floor. Fortunately, that pattern continued in the playoffs as the Toros rebounded from their lackluster regular season finale with an inspirational performance that pushed CSUDH past CSUMB in a 56-53 barnburner.
Coincidentally, the other three lower seeded teams followed CSUDH’s lead by toppling their higher-seeded opponents in other first round action, turning the CCAA Tournament upside down and leaving the Toros as the highest-seeded team remaining. Unfortunately, the door closed just as fast for the Cardinal and Gold after 8th-seeded Cal Poly Pomona took a 66-61 win over the Toros in a CCAA semifinal match-up, ending CSUDH’s season.
CSUDH forward Rodney Yearby earned 2nd-team All-CCAA honors and the CCAA Co-Newcomer of the Year Award with teammate Jerrell Smith, as the Toros bade a fond farewell to three seniors in Mike Steed, Nonso Nibo and Jamaal Barnes.
Next year the Toros are set to return six seniors, two juniors, a redshirt sophomore and three redshirt freshmen to the Torodome as they set on improving their third-place CCAA finish and qualifying for the NCAA postseason for the first time since the 1988-89 campaign.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(13-15, 7-13 CCAA, CCAA Conference Tournament)
The 2007-08 season started off with high expectations for coach Van Girard entering his 20th season.
With nearly every player returning from last season, including all five starters, the Toros were predicted to finish first in the CCAA coaches poll.
The Toros looked as though the other coaches in the CCAA were right on the money as CSUDH took down the University of Tampa and Northwest Nazarene and kept on rolling by hosting the NAIA’s No 16-ranked Azusa Pacific Cougars, who ended their season with a No. 9 national ranking, and taking them down by nine in their final tune-up before the conference season started.
The CCAA season started with a reality check for the Toros and proved to be a harbinger of things to come as CSUDH fell at home to Sonoma State, 56-61. The Toros responded with a win over Humboldt State the next night, however, and then went on to win three of the next four contests, all of which were non-conference.
Once back to conference play the Toros quickly saw their season begin to look like a shell of what was expected, falling in back-to-back nights to Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino, and then finding wins in just three of the next nine games.
With the season slipping away the Toros responded with back-to-back conference wins for the first time all season in victories over Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State L.A., but, three-straight losses followed to put the Toros in a must-win situation against Cal State Stanislaus to make the conference tournament.
Senior Jessica Liang, arguably the most feared long range shooter in the conference, stepped up to the challenge, proving she deserved to be feared.
After missing her first three-point attempt, the Alhambra native went on to nail eight three-point shots in a row, tying the school and conference records and setting a career high with 30 points to lift the Toros past the Warriors, 72-68.
With the conference tournament now a lock, the Toros ended the regular season the next night against No. 20 Chico State, who also wound up being the Toros’ first round opponent in the CCAA tournament starting four days later.
The nationally-ranked Wildcats wasted little time in either of the games, outscoring CSUDH 129 to 95 in the two contests and ending the Toros season.
Individually Liang collected 1st-Team All-CCAA honors as she led the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.436) and three-pointers made per game (2.82) for the second year in a row.
Nationally, Liang’s long-range abilities placed her 11th in percentage and 19th in makes per game.
Fellow senior Alana Bailey etched her name in the record books as the most accurate player in Toro history, holding the season and career field goal percentage marks, while also sitting in the top-10 in career points and rebounds.
Next year the Toros return a solid core of players led by senior Brittany Blankenship, who was forced to miss this season due to injury.
No. 17 SOFTBALL
(30-25, 17-15 CCAA, NCAA West Region Semifinals)
Qualifying for its first trip to the NCAA post-season appearance after four-consecutive appearances from 2003-06, CSUDH entered the 2008 playoffs as the No. 5 seed and proceeded to defeat UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino in its first two games to advance as one of two undefeated teams to the winner’s bracket.
CSUDH’s luck, however, would run out as it fell to Western Oregon in the winner’s bracket contest, and was eliminated the next day by host Humboldt State, which capped an improbable run with six-straight wins out of the loser’s bracket to not only win the regional and advance to the World Series, but to win four more games to bring home its second National Championship as well.
Sophomores Katie Garcia and Katie Jordan were selected 1st-team All-CCAA, with Jennifer Frazier, Jodi Nakawatase and Kristin Tanaka earning 2nd-team All-CCAA honors. Tanaka also was the lone Toro to earn a CCAA Pitcher of the Week Award, adding that honor to her National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Player of the Week award for the same week, making her the first Toro to ever earn the NFCA national honor.
The Toros return virtually their entire starting line-up plus all three pitchers, looking to capture its second CCAA Title in four years and advance to its first-ever College Softball World Series.
TRACK & FIELD
True freshman Deirdra Pettigrue had a standout season for the Toros Track & Field team that featured a roster made up of entirely new faces. Pettigrue was the lone Toro representative at the 2008 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships after the CSUDH 4 x 400-meter relay team had their provisional qualifying time bested, pushing them out of the championship.
At the championships Pettigrue was one of five freshman to qualify for the 400-meter prelims but, along with the other newbies, failed to qualify for the final race as she turned in a time of 57.48 to place her 16th in the final race of her freshman season.
Prior to the national championships Pettigrue turned in her best performance of the season and was crowned the CCAA 400-meter champion in a stellar time of 55.11, vaulting her into second place all-time in the Toro record books and recording the 6th fastest time in the nation and the fastest amongst freshmen at that point.
Additionally, the quartet of Pettigrue, Brigayle Iglehart, Janelle Millner, and Monique Joseph nabbed a second place finish at the championships in the 4 x 400 meter relay with a time of 3:50.82.
Sophomore Judith Fisher, who was one of the few Toros returning from last year’s team, continued to show her versatility as she competed in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, shot put, javelin, long jump, and running a leg in the 4 x 100 relay. Fisher’s top event was been the javelin, where earlier this year at USC she recorded a throw of 118’11.00”, the 4th longest throw in Toro history.
JuCo transfer Millner was the first Toro to turn in a provisional mark this season, turning in a time of 56.66 in the 400-meter dash at the Cal-Nevda Championships back in March, while also running in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400-meter relays.
Next season looks bright for the Toros as nearly every member of the team will be returning, including 2007 All-American Grace Fitchett.
MEN’S GOLF
The Toros golf team enjoyed moderate success in the highly competitive CCAA Conference, placing two top 10 team finishes and three top 20 individual finishes over the course of seven invitationals.
True freshman Kevin Castillo proved to be the most consistent golfer in Cardinal and Gold, averaging just over 6 strokes over par in 21 total rounds of action. Castillo posted two top 20 finishes on the year, including an 18th place finish at the Elco, Inc. Intercollegiate, hosted by Cal State Bakersfield in mid-March, after tying for 20th at the UC San Diego-hosted 58th SoCal Intercollegiate Championships one week earlier at Marbella Country Club.
Sophomore Keith Johnson and junior Kevin Ritter also made strides over the course of the season, with Johnson coming in just a stroke behind Castillo for the team’s second-best average, followed by Ritter just one stroke behind Johnson.
Next season should see the Toros improve both as a team and individually as their top three golfers return with a year’s experience under their collective belts, in hopes of cracking the ever-competitive CCAA’s upper echelon.
BASEBALL
(21-34, 16-20 CCAA)
Coming off a rough 2007 season the Toros shook up the roster heading into this season with 23 fresh faces on the squad, and with so many new faces on the team the Toros dropped the first four games of the season. Things appeared to gel as CSUDH took three of four from Cal State L.A., but a six-game trip to Hawai’i resulted in six losses for CSUDH.
The early up and down play of the Toros was a season long trend, and as injuries to key players piled up the Toros never put more than five wins in a row together and were only able to sweep one conference series. Despite the sub .500 record the Toros were able to win six more games than last season, including five more in conference play, and individually a few Toros put together some outstanding seasons.
Junior Cody Puckett tossed his name in the league MVP discussion by leading the CCAA in homeruns, walks, stolen bases, total bases, and runs scored to end the regular season, and ended up a 1st-team All-CCAA selection along with newcomer Bret Montgomery, a remarkable accomplishment despite Montgomery being sidelined halfway into the season. True freshman Kevin Pillar’s 2nd-team All-CCAA nod and transfer Jon Alia’s 3rd-team selection rounded out the all-conference winners.
CSUDH said good-bye to six seniors this season, but will welcome back nearly the entire starting lineup and starting rotation next year, making the outlook for 2009 bright.
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Overall, the Toros took home: 1 CCAA Team Championship, 1 CCAA Individual Championship, 4 All American honors, 4 CCAA Newcomer of the Year awards, 4 NCAA postseason appearances, 11 All-Region honorees, 30 All–CCAA selections, and 13 Player / Pitcher of the Weeks!
We'll see you next year!
Go Toros!
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