Mustangs to Play the Best at California Tournament
9/10/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
First Serve:
The Cal Poly volleyball team captured the championship this past weekend at the Sacramento State Tournament when the team swept the competition and finished with a 3-0 record.
Cal Poly will head to the Bay Area to play at the Cal Tournament where the team will face the host Bears on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7 pm, Kansas State on Friday, Sept. 13 at 4:30 pm and conclude the tourney at Santa Clara on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 2 pm.
The Mustangs enter the tournament with a 4-2 overall record after the Sac State Tournament and three wins.
In the three-set win over Central Connecticut State Chelsea Hardin led the team with 13 kills with McConnell adding 10. The team hit a hot .416 in the three-set match with Hardin's 13 kills coming on 17 swings and just two errors (.647).
In the Saturday morning session, Cal Poly defeated San Jose State in four sets with McConnell leading the team with a career-high 20 kills. Senior Jennifer Keddy and sophomore Hannah Schleis each added 10 kills as the team hit .319.
In the championship match Saturday night, Hardin led the team with 18 kills in the five set win. Schleis added 17 kills with McConnell recording her second double-double of the tournament with 14 kills and 11 digs.
This weekend's tournament at California and the match at Santa Clara will offer live stats. All links are available at GoPoly.com.
A Quick Look at the Teams:
CP Cal KS SC
Record: 4-2 5-0 6-0 3-3
Kills: 13.33 14.7 12.8 13.83
Hitting %: .253 .336 .219 .223
Digs: 12.71 15.2 13.4 13.21
Blocks: 1.60 2.7 2.5 1.94
Ser. Aces: 1.54 1.1 1.4 1.71
Cal: The Bears enter the tournament with a 5-0 record and just emerged in the top-25 this week at No. 23... Cal has yet to drop a set, defeating Creighton, No. Colorado, South Florida, New Mexico St. and Nevada all it three set matches... Adrienne Gehan is the dominate Cal player averaging 4.33 kills and 3.00 digs per set... Lara Vukasovic adds 2.71 kills... Lillian Schonewise and Vukasovic play big in the middle averaging 1.29 and 1.07 blocks per set respectively. California holds a 9-6 advantage over the Mustangs in the all-time series with the last meeting in 2008.
Kansas State: Kansas State enters the Cal tournament with a 6-0 record having defeated one Big West Conference school, Cal State Fullerton, in five sets. Kaitlynn Pelger leads the team with 2.54 kills per set while Tristan McCarty leads the team with 3.10 digs. Kansas State holds a 2-0 advantage over the Mustangs in the all-time series. The teams last met in 2009.
Santa Clara: The Bronco enter the tournament with a 3-3 overall record having defeated Fresno State, Rice and New Mexico State. They lost in three to BWC foe Cal State Northridge and in four to Hawai'i. The team's other loss came against UCLA in four sets. Cal Poly holds a 10-8 advantage in the all-time series with the teams last meeting in 2011. Megan Anders leads the team with 3.25 kills per set followed by Nikki Hess at 3.17... Cal Poly holds a 10-8 advantage in the all-time series with the Broncos with the teams last meeting in 2011.
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.
Welcome Back: Senior Jennifer Keddy is back in the lineup for the Mustangs... After limited action at the Northern Colorado/Colorado State Tournament, Keddy played in two matches and six sets. In her time on the court she averaged 2.50 kills while hitting .652. The two-time All-American tallied 10 kills on 15 swings with no errors (.667) in the match with San Jose State. Keddy missed all of last season with a shoulder injury and later in the off season had foot surgery.
Schleis it up...: Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Schleis had a solid tournament of her own... In the three matches and 12 sets she averaged 3.00 kills per set and hit .262 for the tourney ... In the tournament she also served up four aces... Against Sacramento State, Schleis had 17 kills on 39 swings... She added 10 kills against San Jose State and nine kills against Central Connecticut State...
Setting it Up...: Second-year head coach has made the use of two setters this season with sophomore Maddie Kuber playing 15 sets and junior Shannon Garrett 14 sets.... Kuber dishes out 8.53 assists per set while Garrett hands out 9.07 assists... Kuber and Garrett also check in with 1.80 and 1.93 digs per set respectively....
Cal Poly Continues To Notch Victories: Head Coach Sam Crosson, who is currently in his second season at the helm of the Cal Poly women's volleyball team, seems to have the Mustangs headed in the right direction. In just six games into the new year, the Mustangs have already posted as many wins as they did during the entire 2012 season. Cal Poly (4-2) will be tested in its third week of competition as it faces No. 23 California in the opening match of the Cal Invitational.
Against The Rest: Senior Megan McConnell currently ranks third in the Big West Conference in kills with a 3.67 average. Teammates Kate Walters and Hannah Schleis sit second and tied for fourth in services aces to elevate the Mustangs to first in the league
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.
Calling All Freshman: True freshman Taylor Gruenewald has been making a name for herself just six matches into the 2013 season.... Noted earlier that Gruenewald was named all-tournament this past weekend.... Let's look at what she has done overall.... She has seen action in all 24 sets and averages 2.12 kills while hitting .321.... She has played big at the net in leading the team with 18 total blocks (three solo) averaging 0.75 blocks...
Steady is as Steady Gos.... : Senior Marianne Gera produces every set she plays in... While not recording flashy numbers she is always steady... Last season she averaged 1.09 kills while hitting .379 with 71 total blocks (0.66).. this year she checks in with 0.56 kills per set and 14 total blocks (0.78)...
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 Willton...
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.... Stanford is currently the top ranked opponent at No. 8 followed by Hawai'i at 10.... California broke into the top-25 this week at No. 23... The others are receiving votes and include Colorado State (125), Arizona State (98), Kansas State (31) and Cal State Northridge (14)...
