Cal Poly to Host No. 12 Hawai'i, Friday
11/6/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
First Serve: Cal Poly remains at home this week to host No. 12 Hawai'i on Friday, Nov. 8. First serve at Mott Athletics Center is set for 7 pm.
Cal Poly enters the match 10-12 overall and 4-5 in conference matches while Hawai'i enters 18-4 overall and 7-3 in conference matches. Cal Poly is currently sixth in conference with Hawai'i in third.
This past week the Mustangs lost in three sets to UC Santa Barbara, 25-20, 25-12 and 26-24.
Senior Megan McConnell led the team with 12 kills on 39 swings while sophomore Hannah Schleis added 10 kills.
UC Santa Barbara out hit the Mustangs .227-.056 and outblocked Cal Poly, 13-5. Seniors Steffi Sooter and Kate Walters each tallied 10 digs to lead the team. Senior Marianne Gera led the team with four blocks (one solo).
Sophomore Maddie Kuber Dished out 14 assists with junior Shannon Garrett adding 12.
A Quick Look at the Teams:
CP UH
Record: 10-12 18-4
BWC 4-5 7-3
Kills: 12.81 14.27
Hitting %: .207 .282
Digs: 14.32 14.59
Blocks: 1.83 2.38
Ser. Aces: 1.32 1.11
A New Hot Hand...: True freshman had the hot hand in the two Big West Conference wins over Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside. Anna Gorman tallied 15 and 11 kills respectively and averaged 3.71 kills while hitting .247 for the two matches... It was her first match of the season at outside hitter.... Her previous experience came when she served in each of her previous matches.
Another Newcomer... : Freshman Lexi Reddick saw her first action in a Mustang uniform in the match with UC Santa Barbara. Reddick played the final two sets and tallied three kills and a pair of assisted blocks...
McConnell's Way..: Senior outside hitter Megan McConnell continues to set the pace for the team... This past week she averaged 4.00 kills and 3.00 digs per set in the match with UCSB... The senior's all-around game checks in with 3.01 kills and 2.63 digs per set... She has added 24 assists, 15 service aces and 28 total blocks...
In Big West Conference Play: Since BWC play opened, senior Chelsea Hardin has led the team entering last weeks matches... She was averaging 3.64 kills per set and hitting .300 before going down with a hand injury.. The void at the top is filled by Megan McConnell averaging 3.12 kills per set.. She is followed by Hannah Schleis with 2.69 and freshman Taylor Gruenewald with 2.62 kills.
Turnaround Season: Things are looking up for the Mustangs in the 2013 season. So far this year, Cal Poly has more then doubled its overall win total from 2012 (4-26) with a 10-12 record. In conference, the Mustangs have eclipsed last season's total by one with a 4-5 record.
Overall in Stats.... : Entering this week In conference hitting percentage, Taylor Gruenewald and Chelsea Hardin were sixth and eighth with a .300 and .302 hitting percentage respectively... In kills per set, Hardin was fifth at 3.11 with Megan McConnell eighth with 3.01... In assists sophomore Maddie Kuber was sixth with 9.58 assists 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... She is currently listed as a match time decision....
Missing in Action II : What Cal Poly is missing this season and 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.
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 3.09 digs per set... In the nine BWC matches she recorded 132 digs and a per set average of 4.12.... For the season she averages 3.09 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 62 sets and junior Shannon Garrett 38 sets.... Kuber dishes out 9.58 assists per set while Garrett hands out 6.84 assists... Kuber and Garrett also check in with 1.73 and 1.32 digs per set respectively.... In BWC matches Kuber dishes out 10.30 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.... In the match with UCSB the Mustangs played in front of a seaon-high crowd of 1,591...Cal Poly is now 2-3 on the season at home after this past week.
Schleis-ing it up....: Sophomore Hannah Schleis is third on the team with 2.71 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 2.69 kills while hitting .185...
Who is are the Opponents...: Currently there are five 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 Colorado State at No. 10... Hawai'i is ranked No. 12, Cal at No. 22... and Cal State Northridge in the polls at No. 23....
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.
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...
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.
