Cal Poly to Play UCSB in Blue-Green Rivalry Match
10/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
This Week....: The Mustangs will continue conference play this week with a single match when the team travels to UC Santa Barbara to take on the Gauchos on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7 pm. Cal Poly enters the match with a two match win streak and a 3-18 overall record and post a 2-7 mark in cofinance matches. UCSB enters the match 12-12 overall and 5-4 in conference matches. Live stats and video will be available for both matches while audio will be available for the match with the Gauchos. All links will be available at GoPoly.com
• 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 the Gauchos, Cal Poly will remain on the road and take on Cal State Northridge (Nov. 1) and Hawai'i (Nov. 3).
• 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 UCSB
Record: 3-18 12-12
BWC Record: 2-7 5-4
Kills per Set: 11.59 12.65
Hitting % .146 .168
Digs per Set: 14.45 18.24
Blocks per Set: 1.53 2.12
Service Aces Per Set: 0.75 1.24
UC Santa Barbara: The Gauchos enter the match with the Mustangs 12-12 overall and 5-4 in Big West matches after splitting contests this past week. UCSB lost in five sets to Cal State Fullerton, but defeated UC Riverside in four sets. Leah Sully leads the Gauchos with 3.85 kills per set while Katie Thompson adds 2.94 kills. Britton Taylor is the third Gaucho averaging better then 2.0 kills per set with 2.28. Taylor Formico is the team's leader with 5.84 digs per set while Sully adds 3.65. Aki Santi sets up the kills with 8.71 assists per set with Jaylen Villanueva adding 5.28 per set.
Megan McConnell Wins BWC Player of the Week: Junior Megan McConnell (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View HS) helped Cal Poly snap a program record for longest winless streak to capture the Big West Women's Volleyball Player of the Week award. The Mustangs, which had lost 15 straight matches, defeated UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton at home in a pair of five-set thrillers with McConnell leading the way. The middle blocker averaged 2.30 kills, 2.60 digs and 1.40 blocks per set while hitting a solid .346 (23-5-52) to get Cal Poly into the win column. McConnell hit .440 with 13 kills, six digs and eight blocks in the win over the Highlanders. She set a season-high in kills. Against the Titans, McConnell posted a double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 20 digs. She chipped in six blocks and swung at a .259 (10-3-27) clip for the contest.
Other Players in the Wins...: Junior Holly Franks averaged 2.50 kills in the two matches while junior Chelsea Hardin added 2.11 kills with senior Molly Pon checking in with 2.10.... Junior Steffi Sooter checked in with 4.60 digs per set with McConnell adding 2.60 and Nicole Kessler recorded 2.30 digs...
Big West Play By The Numbers...Kills: In Big West Conference play the Mustangs are led by junior Holly Franks with 2.55 kills per set. Senior Molly Pon adds 2.36 and freshman Hannah Schleis with 2.16. Junior Chelsea Hardin contributes 2.29 kills per set. Juniors Megan McConnell and Marianne Gera add 1.61 and 1.06 kills respectively.
BWC.... Digs : Four players on the team are averaging better then two digs per set in conference play led by Steffi Sooter with 3.39 digs per set. Freshman Nicole Kessler and junior Megan McConnell add 2.55 and 2.64 digs. Freshman Maddie Kuber is the fourth Mustang with 2.21 digs per set.
Overall...: Holly Franks leads the team overall with 2.76 kills per set followed by senior Molly Pon with 2.24. Junior Chelsea Hardin is third on the team with 2.10 kills per set. Freshman Nicole Kessler is the overall team leader with 3.00 digs per set followed by junior Steffi Sooter with 2.90 digs.
Freshmen Report Card: The Mustangs have a number of freshman contributing across the board.... Overall Hannah Schleis is fourth on the team with 1.92 kills per set followed by Maddie Kuber with 1.23.... Kuber also leads the team with 5.42 assists per set while adding 2.19 digs per set.... Nicole Kessler leads the team with 3.00 digs per set .....
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....
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...
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Cal Poly volleyball picked up hard fought Big West Conference five set win over UC Riverside on Friday night in Mott Gym to snap a 15 match winless streak improving to 1-7 in conference matches and 2-18 overall. UCR falls to 5-16 overall and 0-8 in conference matches. Set scores in the win for the Mustangs went 25-21, 22-25, 22-25 26-24 and 17-15. Cal Poly will return to the court on Saturday when the team will host Cal State Fullerton in a Big West Conference match in Mott at 7 pm. No admission will be charged for the match. The match included 34 ties and 21 lead changes as the Mustangs came back from a 2-1 deficit in sets to pull out the win. Junior Megan McConnell led the Mustangs with 13 kills coming on 25 swings (.440) and added six digs to go along with one solo block and seven assisted bocks. Fellow juniors Chelsea Hardin and Holly Franks each added 11 kills. Junior Steffi Sooter led the team with 18 digs with freshman Nicole Kessler adding 16. Freshman Maddie Kuber had a team-high 27 assists with sophomore Shannon Garett dishing out 21. The Mustangs played big at the net with a total of 12 team blocks led by McConnell with junior Mariane era adding four assisted blocks and Megan Groess, Molly Pon and Hannah Schleis each credited with three assisted blocks. UCR's Amanda Vialpando led all players with 22 kills with Ashley Cox recording 11 kills. Cal Poly hit .137 compared to UCR's .114 while UCR held a slight advantage in digs, 66-62. But it was at the net the Mustangs dominated with a 12-5 advantage. Each team served up six service aces. The Mustangs won the first set despite getting outhit .167 to .152. but Cal Poly held one for the 25-21 win outblocking the Highlanders, 3-1. In the second set UCR prevailed outhitting Cal Poly .077-.025 recording two more kills (12-10) and five more digs (19-14). In the third set had nine ties and four lead changes as UCR hit .128 compared to the Mustangs .132. Down 2-1 in sets the Mustangs rebounded in the fourth hitting .119 with four blocks while UCR hit .051 with one block in the 26-24 win. In the fifth and final set, Cal Poly dominated early gaining a 9-6 advantage on a kill by Pon. UCR came back to tie the set up at 11-11 and the teams traded points until the Mustangs held match point at 14-13. UCR would score the next two points to gain a 15-14 lead, but a kill by McConnell tied the set and an attack error by UCR and a kill by Pon put the set and the match away.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Cal Poly Mustang volleyball team made it two in a row when they defeated Cal State Fullerton in a dramatic five set Big West Conference win on Saturday night in Mott Gym. Set scores in the win went 25-23, 18-25, 27-25, 13-25 and 15-13. With the win the Mustangs improve to 3-18 overall and 2-7 in Big West play while Cal State Fullerton falls to 11-11 overall and 5-4 in conference play. Cal Poly had four players record 10 or kills led by junior Holly Franks with 14 while Molly Pon and Hannah Schleis each added 12. Junior Megan McConnell was the fourth Mustang in double figures with 10. Cal Poly also had four players with 10 or more digs in the match with McConnell recording a double-double with 20 digs. Junior Steffi Sooter led the team with 28 digs with freshman Maddie Kuber recording 17 with sophomore Shannon Garrett getting credit with 13. Kuber and Garrett each earned a double-double with 26 and 25 assists respectively. Cal Poly totaled 11 team blocks with McConnell credited with one solo and five assisted while Marianne Gera have five assisted blocks to go along with her eight kills. Cal Poly as a team hit .153 with two aces, 102 digs and 11 blocks while Cal State Fullerton hit .201 with five aces, 91 digs and 13 blocks. In total, Cal Poly had 66 kills compared to CSF's 60. Kayla Neto led all player with 27 kills with teammate Bre Moreland adding 15. Gabrielle Dewberry had 28 digs for the Titans with Leah Best credited with seven assisted blocks.The first set saw five ties with two lead changes as the Mustangs hit .162 compared to CSF's .190. The Mustangs managed one more block, 4-3, but had two less hitting errors and no service errors (CSF 2). The second set was all about CSF as the Titans hit .205 and limited the Mustangs to .089 hitting percentage. In the set CSF outblocked the Mustangs, 5-0. The third set sway 12 ties and six lead changes as the two teams battled with the Mustangs hitting .208 and CSF .152. Cal Poly had the advantage in kills, 22-11, but had 11 hitting errors compared to the Titans four. The Titans won the fourth set in dominate fashion hitting .343 while Cal Poly could only manage .059 and held a 16-7 advantage in kills. In the deciding fifth set, Cal Poly hit .242 with the Titans hitting. 125. The Mustangs held an 11-6 advantage in kills and committed only three hitting errors in the set. McConnell and Franks each had three kills for the Mustangs in the win. In the match the score was tied 26 times with 11 lead changes..
