Cal Poly Travels to CS Northridge and Hawai'i
10/30/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
This Week....: The Mustangs will continue conference play this week matches against Cal State Northridge and Hawai'i. Cal Poly will travel to CSUN on Nov. 1 and Hawai'i on Nov. 3. Video and live stats 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 Hawai'i, Cal Poly will return home to host UC Davis and Pacific on Nov. 9 and 10. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 pm.
• 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 CSUN UH
Record: 3-19 16-8 19-2
BWC Record: 2-8 7-5 12-0
Kills per Set: 11.66 12.00 13.06
Hitting % .148 .211 .268
Digs per Set: 14.85 15.91 14.63
Blocks per Set: 1.52 2.83 2.60
Service Aces Per Set: 0.75 1.09 1.12
Cal State Northridge: The Matadors enter the match with the Mustangs 16-8 overall and 7-5 in conference contests after splitting matches last week with a win over Long Beach State in five sets and a loss to UC Irvine in three sets. Four players averaged better then two kills per set for the Matadors led by Mahina Haina with 2.66 kills. Britney Graff adds 2.63 with Natalie Allen checking in with 2.62. Casey Hinger is the fourth Matador with 2.44 kills. Cindy Ortiz leads the team with 4.87 digs per set with Allen adding 3.00. CSUN defeated Cal Poly in three sets on Oct. 6.
Hawai'i : The Rainbow Wahine enter the week with a 19-2 overall record and a 12-0 in conference matches and will host UC Santa Barbara on Thursday before hosting the Mustangs. Emily Hartong leads the team with 4.60 digs per set followed by Jane Croson with 3.84. Alyssa Longo leads the team with 3.36 digs per set. Hawai'i defeated the Mustangs in four sets on Oct. 5.
Cal Poly - Hawai'i Connection...: Former Cal Poly football standout Stan Sheriff attended George Washington High School in San Francisco from 1947-50 and was Cal Poly's starting center all four years (1950-53), leading the Mustangs to the California Collegiate Athletic Association title with a 9-0 overall mark. Following his senior season, Sheriff was named CCAA most valuable player, first-team All-CCAA, first-team Little All-Coast, first-team Little All-American, honorable mention National NCAA All-American and played in both the East-West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1954 and played for the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns from 1954-57. He served in the U.S. Army in 1955. Sheriff was a successful teacher, coach and administrator at the University of Northern Iowa from 1958-83 and the University of Hawaii from 1983-93. At Northern Iowa, he was both athletics director and head football coach, compiling a 129-101-4 record with six conference titles, 15 winning seasons, four bowl appearances and twice was named Coach of the Year. Sheriff was director of athletics at Hawaii from 1983-93 and passed away in January 1993. He is a member of the Cal Poly, Hawaii and Northern Iowa athletics halls of fame. Sheriff was posthumously inducted into the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame. The field in the UNIDOME at the University of Northern Iowa is named Sheriff Field and the 10,300-seat arena at the University of Hawaii is named Stan Sheriff Center.
Connection No. 2: On a side note former women's volleyball coach, Mike Wilton coached at Cal Poly from 1979 to 1989, posting a 279-129 overall record (.684) before moving on to serve as head men's coach at Hawai'i.
UCSB Recap: UCSB out hit the Mustangs .222 to .172 and held a 10-5 advantage in team blocks. Each team tallied 89 digs with UCSB recording five service aces compared to the Mustangs' three. Senior Molly Pon led the Mustangs with 16 kills on 42 swings while junior Chelsea Hardin added 15 kills. Junior Holly Franks contributed nine kills. Five Mustangs had 10 or more digs led by Seffi Sooter's 23 digs while junior Megan McConnell and freshman Maddie Kuber each had 14 digs. Sophomore Shannon Garrett and freshman Nicole Kessler had 10 each. Franks led the Mustangs with four assisted blocks while Katey Thompson had five assisted blocks to lead the Gauchos.
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.
Big West Play By The Numbers...Kills: In Big West Conference play the Mustangs are led by senior Molly Pon with 2.54 kills per set with junior Holly Franks adding 2.51 kills. Junior Chelsea Hardin is third on the team with 2.47 kills with Hannah Schleis helping out with 1.83 kills. Juniors Megan McConnell and Marianne Gera round out the players with better then one kills per set with 1.59 and 1.03 respectively.
BWC.... Digs : Five players on the team are averaging better then two digs per set in conference play led by Steffi Sooter with 3.65 digs per set. Junior Megan McConnell adds 2.70 with freshman Nicole Kessler helping out with 2.54 digs. Freshman Maddie Kuber is the fourth Mustang with 2.35 digs and the fifth is sophomore Shannon Garrett with 2.00 per set.
Overall...: Holly Franks leads the team overall with 2.73 kills per set followed by senior Molly Pon with 2.33. Junior Chelsea Hardin is third on the team with 2.21 kills per set. Junior Steffi Sooter leads the team with 3.05 digs per set.
Freshmen Report Card: The Mustangs have a number of freshman contributing across the board.... Overall Hannah Schleis is fourth on the team with 1.76 kills per set followed by Maddie Kuber with 1.16.... Kuber also leads the team with 5.49 assists per set while adding 2.26 digs per set.... Nicole Kessler adds 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....
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Cal Poly volleyball team pushed Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara to four sets in a Big West Conference match on Saturday in Santa Barbara. With the loss the Mustangs fall to 3-19 overall and 2-8 in conference matches while UC Santa Barbara improves to 13-12 overall and 6-4 in Big West matches. The Mustangs will remain on the road when they travel to Cal State Northridge on Nov. 1 and Hawai'i on Nov. 3. UC Santa Barbara won by set scores of 25-16, 25-20, 23-15 and 25-22. UCSB outhit the Mustangs .222 to .172 and held a 10-5 advantage in team blocks. Each team tallied 89 digs with UCSB recording five service aces compared to the Mustangs' three. Senior Molly Pon led the Mustangs with 16 kills on 42 swings while junior Chelsea Hardin added 15 kills. Junior Holly Franks contributed nine kills. Five Mustangs had 10 or more digs led by Seffi Sooter's 23 digs while junior Megan McConnell and freshman Maddie Kuber each had 14 digs. Sophomore Shannon Garrett and freshman Nicole Kessler had 10 each. Franks led the Mustangs with four assisted blocks while Katey Thompson had five assisted blocks to lead the Gauchos. Leah Sully led UCSB with 18 kills while Kara Sherrard had 14. Taylor Formico had 31 digs to lead all players. The four set match saw 17 tie scores and six lead changes.
