Mustangs Travel to UCSB for Blue-Green Rivalry Match
10/2/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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First Serve:
The Cal Poly volleyball team will continue Big West Conference play this week with a single match when they travel to UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Oct. 5. Cal Poly enters the match 8-7 overall and 2-0 in conference play while UCSB is 6-8 overall and 1-1 in Big West matches. First serve is set for 7 pm at the Thunderdome.
Cal Poly is coming off two wins to open conference play when the team defeated UC Irvine and Long Beach State.
In the three set win over UC Irvine, seniors Chelsea Hardin and Megan McConnell led the team with 14 and 12 kills respectively as the team hit .265 in the win.
The Mustangs had three players recorded 10 or more digs led by senior Steffi Sooter's 12. Sophomore Maddie Kuber tallied a double-double with her 33 assists and 11 digs. The Mustangs held a 57-41 edge in digs and a 6-4 advantage in aces.
In the win over Long Beach State on Saturday, Cal Poly completed its second three-set sweep of the weekend. Hardin again paced the Mustangs with 15 kills while freshman Taylor Gruenewald tallied 12 kills and McConnell 11.
Kuber dished out 43 assists while adding four assisted blocks. Sooter led the team with 10 digs with senior Jennifer Keddy adding eight and four total blocks.
Cal Poly hit a blazing .347 for the match including .486 in the first set. LBSU was limited to a .225 hitting percentage. Cal Poly outblocked LBSU, 10-5, and held the edge in aces, 3-2.
McConnell Wins BWC Player of the Week:
Senior Megan McConnell (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View HS) hit .383 to spark Cal Poly to a 2-0 conference start, claiming Big West Women's Volleyball Player of the Week honors. The 6-1 outside hitter was the offensive catalyst in back-to-back straight set victories against UC Irvine and Long Beach State. The Mustangs, 2-0 in the Big West for the first time since 2010, rode the steady play of McConnell, who posted 12 kills against UCI and 11 versus LBSU. Against the Anteaters, her 12 kills came on 27 swings with just four errors as she swung at a .296 clip. McConnell added nine digs, two assisted blocks and a service ace in the 25-22, 25-18, 25-11 win. McConnell hit .500 (11-1-20) in the 25-18, 27-25, 25-23 sweep of the 49ers. She also dug seven balls. She finished the weekend averaging 3.83 kills and 2.67 digs per set.
A Quick Look at the Teams:
CP UCSB
Record: 8-7 6-8
BWC 2-0 1-1
Kills: 12.78 12.24
Hitting %: .216 .213
Digs: 13.96 13.82
Blocks: 1.75 1.96
Ser. Aces: 1.38 1.05
UC Santa Barbara: The Gauchos enter the week 6-8 overall and 1-1 in conference matches after falling to Long Beach State in five sets and defeating UC Irvine in three on Saturday. Katey Thompson leads the team with 3.46 kills per set with Leah Sully adding 2.45. Hanna Nielson hands out the assists with 7.21 per set while Sully leads the team with 3.11 digs per set. In the two Big West matches, Thompson led the team with 4.12 kills per set while hitting .278. UCSB holds a 44-26 advantage over the Mustangs in the all-time series.
Big Opening in Big West...: The Mustangs opened Big West Conference play 2-0 for the first time since 2010 season...
Hot Hot Hot.... : The Cal Poly team hit a solid .309 in the two wins this past week. Cal Poly as a team recorded 95 kills on 220 swings (27 errors) while limiting UCI and LBSU to a .148 hitting percentage...
Hitting with the Hot Hand..: Senior Chelsea Hardin tallied 29 kills on 60 swings (five errors) for a .400 hitting percentage in the two matches this past week. Her 4.83 kills per set led the team.
A Dig or Two... : Senior Steffi Sooter seems to have found her form from a year ago when she averaged 3.17 digs per set... In the two BWC matches she recorded 12 digs against UCI and 10 against LBSU for a per set average of 3.67....
Gruenewald Hitting her stride...: True freshman Taylor Gruenewald had a nice weekend... The Southlake, TX native recorded 19 kills for a set average of 3.17 while hitting .457... She added seven assisted blocks in the two matches...
Setting it Up...: Second-year head coach Sam Crosson has made the use of two setters this season with sophomore Maddie Kuber playing 38 sets and junior Shannon Garrett 26 sets.... Kuber dishes out 9.50 assists per set while Garrett hands out 8.35 assists... Kuber and Garrett also check in with 1.82 and 1.62 digs per set respectively....
Nice to be Home...: After opening the season with 13 matches on the road... Cal Poly returned home for a pair of wins in front of some nice crowds... In the conference opener against UC Irvine, 1,383 fans were there to watch the three set win... The next night the fans backed it up with 1,023 against Long Beach State....
Doing it the Hard-in Way...: Senior outside hitter Chelsea Hardin now leads the team with 3.16 kills per set after her performance against UC Ivine and Long Beach State... She has tallied a team-high 174 kills on 401 swings (.317)...
McConnell's Way..: Senior outside hitter Megan McConnell sets the pace in the all-around game for the Mustangs... The senior is second on the team with 3.04 kills per set.. She has recorded 167 kills on 505 swings (.168)... But she also adds 2.62 digs per set, second on the team... She has also dished out 17 assists and served up six aces with 14 total blocks...
Schleis-ing it up....: Sophomore Hannah Schleis is third on the team with 2.70 kills per set ... She tallied a season high 20 kills in the win over Baylor... At the ASU tournament, she tallied 11 kills on 23 swings (.435) in the win over Alabama State and 16 kills in the win over Louisiana-Monroe....
ASU All-Tournament: True freshman Tayor Gruenewald and senior Chelsea Hardin earned all-tournament honors when they each tallied 38 kills in the three-set tournament... Gruenewald averaged 3.17 kills while hitting .318.. She added eight total kills... For Gruenwald it was her second all-tournament selection (Sacramento State Tournament) this season... Hardin averaged 3.17 kills while hitting .438... It was also her second all-tournament selection (Sacramento State Tournament)...
ASU Tournament II : Steffi Sooter averaged 4.58 digs per set at the ASU tourney... She tallied a total of 55 digs in the three matches... For the season she has 118 digs (2.41)....
Welcome Back: Senior Jennifer Keddy is back in the lineup for the Mustangs... After limited action in the nonconference season, Keddy is back... She has played a total of 31 sets and averages 1.71 kills per set and has 23 total blocks... The two-time All-American missed all of last season with a shoulder injury and later in the off season had foot surgery.
Calling All Freshman: True freshman Taylor Gruenewald has been making a name for herself just 15 matches into the 2013 season.... Let's look at what she has done overall.... She has seen action in all 55 sets and averages 2.35 kills while hitting .311.... She has played big at the net, leading the team with 39 total blocks (four solo) averaging 0.71 blocks...
Who is are the Opponents...: Currently there are seven teams on this year's schedule who are ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll.... Hawai'i is currently the top ranked opponent at No. 6 with Stanford at No. 7.... Arizona State moves up in the rankings to No. 15. .. With Colorado State improving to No. 17.... The others receiving votes and include Kansas State (18), California (17) and Cal State Northridge (8)...
Cal Tournament by the Numbers: Senior Chelsea Hardin led the team in the three matches at the Cal tournament this past weekend with 3.30 kills while hitting .247. Megan McConnell added 2.70 kills and 2.90 digs with Jen Keddy recording 2.40 kills and 0.80 blocks.
Besting Last Year: With the two wins at the ASU tournament, Cal Poly surpassed its win total from a season ago.... and now in conference play only needs one more win to match last season's conference total...
Breaking it Down by Class...: Seniors 6 -- Kate Walters, Megan McConnell, Jennifer Keddy, Chelsea Hardin, Steffi Sooter and Marianne Gera..
Juniors 2 -- Stacia Williams and Shannon Garrett...
Sophomores 4 --Hannah Schleis, Katie Conroy, Nicole Kessler and Maddie Kuber...
Freshman 6 -- Shannon Fouts, Kristen Witous, Taylor Gruenewald, Anna Gorman, Lexi Reddick, Lauren Pluim...
More on Keddy : What Cal Poly missed last season... 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. 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.
Sophomore Step in Time...: Sophomore Nicole's Kessler is a bit of a legacy when it comes to Cal Poly... Aunt, Lynn Kessler, was a standout player for the Mustangs in the 80's under head coach Mike Wilton...
McConnell is the MVP: Cal Poly senior Megan McConnell powered the Mustangs to the Sacramento State Tournament Championship by going undefeated in the tourney (3-0). She tallied 44 kills on 129 swings in the tournament (.225), including a career-high 20 kills in the win over San Jose State. She added a pair of double-doulbes in the tournament. Her all-around game included eight assists, two aces and four total blocks.
All-Tournament: Senior Chelsea Hardin earned all-tournament honors at the Sac State tourney... In the three matches she averaged 2.83 kills while hitting .389 in the 12 sets. She also added five assisted blocks... She led the team with 18 kills against Sacramento State and had 13 kills on 17 swings (.647) against Central Connecticut State...
All-Tournament II: True freshman Taylor Gruenewald also was selected to the all-tournament team at the Sac State tourney... In the three matches she averaged 2.42 kills and 0.75 blocks per set... Her kills came on 53 swings (eight errors), hitting .396 in the tourney... In the five-set win over Sac State, Gruenewald tallied 13 kills that came on 21 swings (one error) for a .571 hitting percentage. She also recorded four total blocks (one solo) in the match.
