Conference Play Continues with Trip to CS Fullerton and UC Riverside
10/22/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
COMPLETE NOTES (PDF)
First Serve: Cal Poly will travel South this weekend when they continue conference play at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Oct. 25 and UC Riverside on Oct. 26.
The Mustangs enter the week with an 8-11 overall record and post a 2-4 mark in conference play. The Titans enter the week 9-9 overall and 2-4 in Big West play while UCR is currently 1-17 overall and 0-6 in conference matches.
Cal Poly suffered two losses this past week when they lost in four sets to UC Davis and five sets to Cal State Northridge.
In the match with the Aggies, Cal Poly was led sophomore Hannah Schleis' 18 kills on 43 swings. Freshman Taylor Gruenewald had 13 kills while senior Megan McConnell had 12.
Sophomore Maddie Kuber dished out 47 assists with Steffi Sooter leading the team with 21 digs. Cal Poly hit .216 in the four set match while UC Davis hit .232.
In the five set loss to Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly was led by McConnell when she tied her career-high with 20 kills. Schleis added 18 kills with Gruenewald recording 11 kills.
Kuber dished out 54 assists with Sooter recording a team-high 16 digs...
The team was credited with 13 blocks and was led by senior Marianne Gera with six total blocks (one solo). Fellow senior Jennifer Keddy had four (two solo) blocks along with Gruenewald (two solo) and McConnell (one solo)...
Cal Poly was up 2-1 in sets having won sets two and three, but CSUN battled back to win the fourth and fifth sets.
A Quick Look at the Teams:
CP CSF UCR
Record: 8-11 9-9 1-7
BWC 2-4 2-4 0-6
Kills: 12.73 12.77 10.77
Hitting %: .212 .186 .119
Digs: 13.68 17.72 14.08
Blocks: 1.80 1.70 1.28
Ser. Aces: 1.32 1.00 0.98
Cal State Fullerton: The Titans enter the match with a 900 overall record and post a 2-4 mark in conference play. CSF has lost three of its last four conference matches to Cal State Northridge (3-0, Long Beach State (3-2) and UC Irvine (3-0). Bre Moreland leads the team with 2.97 kills per set followed by Leah Best with 2.40. McKenna Painton lead the team with 4.56 digs per set with Moreland adding 3.50. Julie Consani dishes out 10.84 assists per set while Hensley Alyse and Moreland each have served up 15 aces. Cal Poly holds a 45-9 advantage over Cal State Fullerton in the all-time series.
UC Riverside: The Highlanders enter the week with a 1-17 overall record and are 0-6 in Big West matches. UCR's lone win came over Winthrop (3-1) in the ninth match of the season. UCR has won two sets in conference play and nine for the season. Ashley Cox leads the team with 2.85 kills per set followed by Cristina Maietta with 2.82. Maddie Hubbell leads the team in digs with 3.93 with Nae Bender dishing out 7.51 assists per set. Cal Poly holds a 17-8 record in the all-time series.
This Past Weekend: Sophomore Hannah Schleis paced the Mustangs in the matches with UC Davis and Cal State Northridge. Schleis averaged 4.00 kills while hitting .267. Senior Megan McConnell added 3.56 and freshman Taylor Gruenewald 2.67 kills. Steffi Sooter added 4.11 digs per set.
Missing In Action...: In the first set in the match against UC Davis, senior Chelsea Hardin left the match with an injured finger and will be out of action for a few weeks.. The senior entered the match leading the team with 3.11 kills per set and hitting .302....
In Big West Conference Play: Since BWC play opened, senior Chelsea Hardin had led the team entering last weeks matches... She was averaging 3.64 kills per set and hitting .300.. The void at the top is filled by sophomore Hannah Schleis who is averaging 2.95 kills and hitting .225. Senior Megan McConnell adds 2.82 kills while freshman Taylor Gruenewald adds 2.73 kills while hitting .329... Gruenewald also adds 0.86 blocks per set while McConnell chips in with 2.64 digs per set.
Turnaround Season: Things are looking up for the Mustangs in the 2013 season. So far this year, Cal Poly has already doubled its overall win total from 2012 (4-26) with an 8-11 record. In conference, the Mustangs need just one more victory to match their total from a year ago.
Overall in Stats.... : Entering this week In hitting percentage, Taylor Gruenewald and Chelsea Hardin were ninth and 10th with a .304 and .302 hitting percentage... In kills per set, Hardin was fifth at 3.11... In assists sophomore Maddie Kuber was sixth with 9.63 assists per set while senior Jennifer Keddy was fifth with 0.32 aces per set...
In Conference Play Only... : In Big West conference matches only... Cal Poly is ranked fourth in hitting percentage .229, second in assists 12.77, seventh in blocks (2.09) and digs (13.73), second in kills (13.45) and second in service aces (1.23)... On the individual side... Taylor Gruenewald is sixth (.329) and Chelsea Hardin is eighth (.300) in hitting percentage... In kills Hardin is second (3.64 while Hannah Schleis is ninth (2.95).... Maddie Kuber is the conference leader in assists (10.68) with Jennifer Keddy and Steffi Sooter are second (0.50) and eighth (0.27) respectively in aces per set...
Big Opening in Big West...: The Mustangs opened Big West Conference play 2-0 for the first time since 2010 season...
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 six BWC matches she recorded 80 digs and a per set average of 3.64.... For the season she averages 2.79 digs per set...
Setting it Up...: Second-year head coach Sam Crosson has made the use of two setters this season with sophomore Maddie Kuber playing 54 sets and junior Shannon Garrett 29 sets.... Kuber dishes out 9.63 assists per set while Garrett hands out 7.72 assists... Kuber and Garrett also check in with 1.70 and 1.59 digs per set respectively.... In BWC matches Kuber dishes out 10.68 assists per set...
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.... Cal Poly is now 2-2 on the season at home after this past week.
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 2.90 kills per set.. She has recorded 206 kills on 651 swings (.147)... But she also adds 2.62 digs per set... She has also dished out 23 assists and served up 10 aces with 23 total blocks...
Schleis-ing it up....: Sophomore Hannah Schleis is third on the team with 2.81 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.... In conference play she averages 2.95 kills while hitting .225...
Who is are the Opponents...: Currently there are six teams on this year's schedule who are ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll.... Stanford is currently the top ranked opponent at No. 6 with Hawai'i ranked No. 8.. Colorado State has moved up to No. 12 with Arizona State receiving votes (50) California (20) and Cal State Northridge (10)...
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)....
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.
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.
