Cal Poly Opens Big West Play This Week at Long Beach State, Fullerton

Friday, September 24

Long Beach, CA

7 P.M.

Long Beach State

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Opens Big West Play This Week at Long Beach State, Fullerton

9/21/2021 12:58:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After finishing a tough non-conference schedule last week, the Cal Poly volleyball team will now turn its attention to starting Big West play this weekend on the road.

The Mustangs (2-9) will begin conference play Friday at Long Beach State at 7 p.m. They will then take the short drive inland to face Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 5 p.m. Fans will be able to watch both matches live as well as follow live stats. Links for those can be found on the volleyball schedule page.

Cal Poly was put to the test during its non-conference schedule. The Mustangs faced five Top 25-ranked teams during the course of its 11 non-conference matches. Cal Poly lost all five of those matches. However, the Mustangs took No. 22 Pepperdine to five sets and No. 9 Washington to four sets despite missing their 2019 All-American Maia Dvoracek and West Virginia transfer Kristina Jordan, who averaged 2.94 kills per set in 2019 with the Mountaineers.

Leading the Mustangs so far this season offensively has been redshirt senior outside hitter Jamie Stivers. Stivers is averaging a team-leading 3.20 kills per set and 2.45 digs per set. She's had three double-doubles and six matches with double-digit kills. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Tommi Stockham and junior middle blocker Meredith Phillips have also been strong offensively. Stockham is second on the team in kills at 2.63 per set and Phillips is third at 2.50 while hitting .321. Phillips also leads the team in blocks at 1.10 per set.

Cal Poly has also been relying on its youth this season. Of the 40 sets that have been played this season, four freshmen have played in 16 or more. Two of those freshmen, libero Peyton Dueck and middle blocker Kate Slack have started all 11 matches. Dueck is averaging a team-leading 4.20 digs per set which ranks second amongst all Big West players. Slack is averaging 1.23 kills per set and .55 blocks per set.

Long Beach State finished non-conference with a 6-5 record. Most recently they are coming off a 3-1 upset of No. 21 San Diego last Saturday. Leading Long Beach State this season offensively has been junior outside hitter Kashauna Williams, who is averaging 4.77 kills per set which ranks 12th in the nation. Long Beach State leads the all-time series 46-24. However, Cal Poly has won five out of the last six matchups.

The Titans enter Big West play with a record of 3-4 and are coming off a win over Cal Baptist last weekend. Fullerton has been led this season by sophomore outside hitter Julia Crawford. Crawford is averaging 4.04 kills per set which ranks second among all Big West players. Cal Poly leads the all-time series 58-10 and has not lost to the Titans since 2013.

Cal Poly In the Polls: In the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll, the Mustangs were picked to finish second in the conference. Cal Poly received a total of 111 points and four of the 11 first place votes. They finished just behind defending conference champion Hawai'i, who received 117 points and the other seven first place votes.

Setting Up Her Teammates: Junior setter Avalon DeNecochea currently ranks eighth in program history for career assists with 2,409. She needs 176 more assists to move into seventh place.

Her single game career high for assists is 59 which came in a 2019 match against Pepperdine.

Old and New Faces: The Mustangs return eight players from its 2019 roster while welcoming 13 newcomers to the team. Returning for the Mustangs include setter Avalon DeNecochea and middle blocker Meredith Phillips, both of whom were First Team All-Big West selections in 2019. DeNecochea averaged 9.48 assists per set, 1.62 digs per set, .62 blocks per set, and .29 aces per set in 2019. Phillips averaged 1.80 kills per set and led the team in blocks at .90 per set in 2019.

Other returners for Cal Poly include redshirt senior outside hitter Jamie Stivers, outside hitter Nicole Cavote as well as liberos/defensive specialists Lea Ungar and Taylor Rose. Stivers played in the first 10 matches of the season, averaging 2.00 kills per set before suffering a season-ending knee injury during a match against Colorado State. Cavote played in 27 sets in 2019, averaging 1.37 kills per set. Ungar played in all 110 sets in 2019 as a defensive specialist, averaging 2.12 digs per set and was even received a Big West Defensive Player of the Week honor once during the season. Rose appeared in 78 sets in 2019 as a defensive specialist, averaging 1.49 digs per set.

Meanwhile a key player from 2019, Maia Dvoracek, who was an AVCA Third-Team All-American and First Team All-Big West selection will miss the 2021 season due to a knee injury she suffered in the spring.

The 13 newcomers to the team this season include three transfers, three redshirt freshmen who were around the team in 2020, and seven true freshmen.

Strong In Conference: Since 2017, the Mustangs are 44-4 in Big West matches. That includes a perfect 16-0 record in 2017, a 15-1 record in 2018, and a 13-3 record in 2019.

Cal Poly won the Big West Conference title in 2017 and 2018 and have won the conference title a total of five times.