Two years ago, the thought of the San Bernardino Valley College women's volleyball team playing in a regional final game was something you might dream up in your wildest fantasies.

But Saturday night, the Wolverines were there, one game away from the 3C2A State Championship round. Only Cerritos College was standing in the way of the Wolverines and a trip to the some of the highest reaches in program history.

Unfortunately, the No. 6-seeded Falcons were there to swoop in and bust any of SBVC's dreams, sweeping the No. 14-seeded Wolverines 25-15, 25-17, 25-11.

"(Cerritos) is really good," said SBVC coach Robert Vansant. "They have a few more players than we do, but you know, we got the most out of our team. I'm super proud of our team, but especially our sophomores, who laid the foundation last year and continued to strive for a little bit more. I think they should hold their heads high because they did some really great things for San Bernardino Valley College."

SBVC was slow out of the gate, falling behind 6-1 in the first set, and were never able to get back any closer than a three-point deficit at 10-7, before the Falcons pulled away. The second set started better for the Wolverines, as Manaia Mamea scored two kills and two attack errors by the Falcons gave SBVC an early 4-0 lead. But Cerritos' Sydney May ran off eight straight points from the service line - including four aces - turning an 8-4 deficit into a 12-8 lead for Cerritos. The Falcons didn't look back.

Cerritos cruised in the final set, as the Wolverines' lack of depth caught up with them, and the Falcons pounded out 13 kills in the set to punch their ticket to next weekend's final eight at Mt. San Antonio College.

For coach Vansant, the victory this season was building up a team that has turned around a program that has struggled for more than a decade, and has won back-to-back conference championships along with having advanced to the third round of the postseason. But he also knows that next year will be another challenge.

"There will never be another group like this," he said. "I told them that during our meeting after the game. But, yes, if I can get something close to this group and get good kids that work hard in the classroom and on the court, and have that level of trust that these guys had in me, they'll do OK."

Manaia Mamea led the Wolverines with 15 kills and 11 digs, while sister Loleaulelei Mamea ended with 11 kills. Setter Christina Muller had 24 assists and 10 digs.