Cal Poly Heads North to Play Pacific and UC Davis
10/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
This Week....: The Mustangs will continue conference play this week when they travel to Pacific and UC Davis for matches on Friday, Oct. 12 and Saturday Oct. 13. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 pm. Live stats will be available at GoPoly.com
Pacific enters the week 15-3 overall and 3-2 in Big West matches while UC Davis is 9-9 overall and 3-2 in conference matches. UC Davis will host UC Santa Barbara before Cal Poly comes to visit.
• For the seventh year, institutions will air all home and conference matches on BigWest.TV, and beginning with the 2012 season, all BigWest.TV events will air free of charge. Head to http://www.bigwest.org/ ...this week for weekly event schedules.
What's coming up: Following the match with UC Davis, Cal Poly will return home to host UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton for Big West matches. The Mustangs will host UC Riverside on Oct. 19 and enter this week with a 5-13 overall record and are 0-5 in conference matches. Cal State Fullerton comes to town on Oct. 20 and enters this week with a 8-10 overall record and is 2-3 in BWC matches.
• In 2012, Big West volleyball expands to 10 teams with the addition of the University of Hawai'i. The Rainbow Wahine competed in the Big West from 1985-95 and posted a 165-31 Big West record and an overall mark of 302-68.
... The Mustangs have not advanced to the postseason since the 2007 season... Overall the team has made 14 appearances and post a 13-14 overall record.
A Quick Look at the Teams:
CP Pac UCD
Record: 1-16 15-3 9-9
BWC Record: 0-5 3-2 3-2
Kills per Set: 11.71 13.57 12.68
Hitting % .155 .230 .192
Digs per Set: 14.29 18.82 15.90
Blocks per Set: 1.42 2.26 2.31
Service Aces Per Set: 0.69 1.18 0.97
Pacific: The Tigers enter the week 15-3 overall and 3-2 in conference matches and are 4-1 over the last four matches. Pacific's lone loss came in its last match against Long Beach State in three sets. The team's other conference loss came in the conference opener against UC Davis in four sets. Megan Birch leads the team with 3.79 kills per set while Jennifer Sanders and Kat Schulz add 2.82 and 2.57 kills per set. Koala Matsuoka is the team leader in digs with 4.25 with Hannah Clancy adding 3.17. Pacific as a team averages 2.26 blocks per set and is led by Gillian Howard with 1.18 blocks per set. Clancy is the team's setter averaging 10.31 assists per set.
UC Davis: The Aggies enter the week with a 9-9 overall record and a 3-2 mark in conference matches. The team's two conference losses have come against Long Beach State in four sets and Cal State Fullerton in five. A pair of players average better then three kills per set led by Allison Whitson with 3.81 kills with Devon Damelio recording 3.25 kills. Jenny Woolway averages 8.17 assists with Lindsay Dowd checking in with 4.03. Caroline Mercado leads the team with 3.87 digs per set with Whitson adding 3.13.
Big West Play Numbers...Kills: In Big West Conference play the Mustangs are led by junior Holly Franks with 2.76 kills per set. Senior Molly Pon adds 2.53 and freshman Hannah Schleis with 2.44. Junior Chelsea Hardin contributes 2.31 kills per set. .
BWC.... Digs : Four players on the team are averaging better then two digs per set led by freshman Nicole Kessler with 2.94 digs. Junior transfer Steffi Sooter is second with 2,82 digs followed by Megan McConnell with 2.53. Freshman Maddie Kuber is the fourth Mustang with 2.29 digs per set.
Overall...: Holly Franks leads the team overall with 2.88 kills per set followed by senior Molly Pon with 2.25. Junior Chelsea Hardin is third on the team with 2.05 kills per set. Freshman Nicole Kessler is the overall team leader with 3.24 digs per set followed by junior Steffi Sooter with 2.58 digs.
Sometimes Two is Better then One....: Cal Poly has been using a 6-2 system on and off since the fourth match of the season or at least a variation of it... Freshman Maddie Kuber averages 5.31 assists per set with junior Kate Walters checking in with 5.58...
Playing the Best.... : The Mustangs have faced the No. 2 team (Texas) and the No. 19 team (San Diego) in the first week of the season.... Two weeks later the Mustangs faced No. 5 USC and No. 17 San Diego (again)... During the BWC season Cal Poly will face No. 8 Hawai'i twice....
Missing in Action.... : Jennifer Keddy, a two-time AVCA All-America selection, was named the 2011 Big West Conference Player of the Year when she led the conference with 4.06 kills per set is sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury. The 6-4 middle blocker was also third in hitting percentage with a .339 clip and blocks with a 1.22 average. Keddy's 4.85 points per set average ranks first in the Big West and 22nd in the nation. Her all-around skills include 1.76 digs per set with her career-high 19 coming against UC Irvine. She was also selected for the national A2 team.
Triple -Double.... : True freshman Maddie Kuber led the team to a five set win over Idaho when she tallied a triple-double with 15 kills, 30 assists and 10 digs.... Her kills came on 38 swings (.184) while adding one solo block and three assisted blocks...
Franks Earns All-Tournament in Utah Classic: Junior Holly Franks earned all-tournament honors when she averaged 3.45 kills per set... Franks had 17 kills against Utah Valley and 13 against Nevada... In the loss to Utah she tallied eight... For the tournament she hit .202 recording 38 kills on 84 swings....
Others–– at the Tournament: True Freshman Hannah Schleis tallied 27 kills in the three matches (2.45) on 69 swings... Junior middle blocker hit a remarkable .515 with 18 kills on 33 swings... Another true freshman stepped up at the tournament.... Maddie Kuber ... She averaged 2.27 kills, 2.00 digs, 7.36 assists and .64 blocks per set.... The setter/outside hitting recorded her 25 kills on 63 swings.... Junior transfer Steffi Sooter checked in with 4.00 digs per set while Nicole Kessler added 2.18 digs...
True Freshmen Stepping up...: Nicole Kessler, libero, tallied 35 digs in the match with Idaho and is averaging a team-high 3.31 digs per set...... Nicole's aunt, Lynn Kessler, was a standout player for the Mustangs in the 80's under head coach Mike Willton...
Freshmen Report Card: The Mustangs have a number of freshman contributing across the board.... Overall Hannah Schleis is fourth on the team with 1.93 kills per set followed by Maddie Kuber with 1.52.... Kuber also leads the team with 5.58 assists per set while adding 2.21 digs per set.... Nicole Kessler leads the team with 3.24 digs per set .....
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Cal Poly volleyball team pushed the No. 8 Hawai'i Wahine only to fall 3-1 on Friday in a Big West Conference match in Mott Gym. Set scores went 25-15, 25-17, 17-25 and 25-19. With the win Hawai'i improves to 13-2 and remains unbeaten in conference at 6-0 while the Mustangs fall to 1-15 overall and 0-4 in conference matches. Junior Holly Franks and senior Molly Pon led the team with 12 kills each while junior Megan Mcconnell added nine. Freshman Maddie Kuber and junior Kate Walters had 22 and 18 assists for the Mustangs respectively while junior Steffi Sooter led the team with 18 digs. McConnell added 14 digs to her credit with freshman Nicole Kessler contributing 11. Junior Marianne Gera was credited with five assisted blocks for Cal Poly. Hawai'i's Emily Hartong led all players with 20 kills while Ashley Kastl and Jade Vorster each helping out with 11 kills. Hawai'I hit .259 for the match while Mustangs hit .186. UH held a 54-45 advantage in digs and a 10-8 edge in blocks while both teams managed three service aces. The first set was all about UH as the team hit .367 with Hartong recording five kills. Cal Poly hit .171 with Franks getting credit for four kills. The second set went the way of the first set with the score close midway through the set until UH pulled away. UH hit .367 with three players claiming three kills while the Mustangs hit .129 with Chelsea Hardin recording four kills. The Mustangs changed things up coming out of the break and jumped to a 5-1 lead with UH calling timeout. The Mustangs kept the pressure on until UH tied the set at 10-10. The score remained closed until the Mustangs, trailing by two (14-12) went on a 4-0 run to take the lead and never looked back. Back to back kills by McConnell helped the Mustangs put away the set 25-17. Cal Poly tallied five blocks in the set in limiting UH to a .047 hitting percentage while the Mustangs hit .167. The fourth set was an uphill battle for the Mustangs trailing throughout the set. The Mustangs closed the lead to three late in the set, 21-18 on a kill by Franks, but would get no closer.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Cal Poly volleyball team lost in three sets to Cal State Northridge in a Big West Conference match on Saturday in Mott Gym. CSUN won by set scores of 32-30, 25-23 and 25-22. With the loss the Mustangs overall record falls to 1-16 and 0-5 in conference matches while CSUN improves to 13-6 overall and 4-3 in BWC matches. Junior Chelsea Hardin led the Mustangs with 10 kills with senior Molly Pon adding nine kills. Junior Megan McConnell had seven kills to go along with three assisted blocks. Hardin's kills came on 20 swings with just one hitting error (.450). Junior Steffi Sooter led the Mustangs with 14 digs with freshmen Maddie Kube and Nicole Kessler each tallied eight. Kuber and Kate Walters had 20 and 16 assists respectively. Casey Hinger led the Matadors with 10 kills with Britney Graff and Cieana Stinson adding nine kills each. CSUN out hit the Mustangs .267 to .171 and held a marginal advantage in digs, 47-43, and aces, 5-3. But the Matadors played big at the net with 12 team blocks compared to the Mustangs five. The first set was a battle with the score tied 19 times with four lead changes. CSUN held a 15-12 lead midway through the match when the Mustangs responded and tied the set at 18-18 on a kill by Hannah Schleis. Cal Poly held off two set points and went on a 4-0 run tying the set at 24-24 and holding a 25-24 lead and set point. The Mustangs had six set points, but could not put away CSUN with the Matadors winning the marathon 32-30. Pon had six kills for the Mustangs in the set with Hardin adding five. The second set saw 11 ties and four lead changes with the teams trading points until CSUN held a two point advantage at 11-9. Cal Poly would tie the set at 15-15, but CSUN would hold a two point advantage until the Mustangs tied it again at 23-23 on a kill by Megan Groess. The Matadors would put away the set on a kill and a hitting error by the Mustangs. In the third set CSUN led wire to wire and held a five point advantage for most of the set with their largest lead coming at 23-17. The Mustangs would make it interesting with a run late forcing a pair of Northridge timeouts at 23-20 and 24-22, but would close out the set and the match, 25-22
