Friday, October 28
Fullerton, CA
7 P.M.
at
Cal State Fullerton
Photo by: Eyasu Betwos
Mustangs Start Second Half of Big West Play This Weekend
10/26/2022 1:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Now at the halfway point of conference play, Cal Poly gets ready to begin the second half of Big West this weekend when finishing up a four-match road trip at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. The Mustangs (11-9, 8-2 BW), who are tied for second in the Big West standings with UCSB and one game behind first heading into the second half, take on the Titans (11-7, 5-5 BW) Friday at 7 p.m. inside Titan Gym. They then face The Beach (12-6, 7-3 BW) Saturday at 7 p.m. inside Walter Pyramid. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+. Links to those as well as live stats can be found on the volleyball schedule page. After winning six straight matches, Cal Poly suffered just its second loss of conference play last Saturday to UC Irvine 3-1. That was after sweeping UC San Diego on Friday. Through the first half of conference play, Cal Poly ranks top five in the Big West in hitting percentage (.251), opponent hitting percentage (.180), assists (12.24), kills (13.49), blocks (2.35), aces (1.92), and digs (15.05). Individually, redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham leads the conference in kills at 3.74 per set. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips leads the Big West in blocks at 1.30 per set. Senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek leads the Big West in aces with 42, is second in points at 4.45 per set, is fourth in kills at 3.54 per set, and is ninth in digs at 3.26 per set. Freshman setter Emme Bullis ranks third in assists at 9.62 per set. SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Sitting at 5-5 in Big West play, Cal State Fullerton heads into Friday's match having won its last two matches after beating both UC Davis and UC Riverside last week. As a team, the Titans are second in the Big West in digs. Cal Poly swept the Titans back in September at home. Long Beach State heads into the week fourth in the conference standings at 7-3. They have the longest win streak going in the Big West at six straight. Outside hitter Morgan Chacon is tied for first in the Big West in kills while setter Zayna Meyer is second in assists and libero Dylan Dela Cruz is third in digs. Cal Poly has won eight of the last nine meetings against The Beach, including a 3-1 win earlier this season at home. STRAIGHT KILLERS: Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham and senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek hold two spots of the top five spots in the Big West in kills per set. Stockham is averaging 3.74 per set which leads the Big West while Dvoracek is fourth at 3.54 per set. DOUBLE-DOUBLE CAL POLY STYLE: Three Mustangs have recorded at least five double-doubles on the season. Dvoracek leads the team with 12, redshirt freshman setter Emme Bullis has 10, and Stockham has eight. BLOCK PARTY: Through the first 20 matches of the season, the Mustangs are third in the Big West and are 32nd in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 2.55 per set. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips leads in the Big West and ranks 28th in the nation in blocks per set at 1.30. Phillips ranks seventh all-time in program history in career blocks with 399. ACE IN THE HOLE: Now with 106 career aces to her name, senior Maia Dvoracek has moved into second all-time in program history with a career aces per set average of .49 and seventh all-time for career aces. She recorded 64 of those in 2019, just two shy of the all-time Cal Poly single-season mark. She also has the program record for aces in a match with 8. STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Cal Poly put itself to the test in non-conference play with all 10 of their first matches on the road. Five of those were against teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2021. PRESEASON COACHES' POLL: Cal Poly was selected to finish third in the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll. They were picked behind two-time defending champion Hawai'i and last year's second place finisher UC Santa Barbara. The Mustangs last won the Big West title in 2018. DVORACEK, STOCKHAM NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG WEST TEAM: Cal Poly senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham were each named to the eight-player Big West Preseason All-Conference Team. Stockham is back for her second year with the Mustangs after earning First Team All-Conference honors last season. The outside hitter led the team and was fourth in the Big West in kills at 3.54 per set. That included posting at least 20 kills five times, six double-doubles, and double digit kills in 16 of 20 conference matches. Dvoracek last played in 2019 due to the 2020 season being cancelled due to the pandemic and was forced to miss the 2021 season while recovering from a severe knee injury. She burst on to the scene in 2019 in her first year as a starter. That year, she led the team and was second in the Big West in kills at 4.25 per set in addition to ranking top-five in the nation in service aces. She was named First Team All-Big West and an AVCA Third Team All-American, becoming the seventh Mustang in program history to be named to one of the three All-American teams. GUESS WHO'S BACK?: After being forced to miss the 2021 season while she recovered from a serious knee injury, senior outside hitter Maia Dvoracek returns to the Cal Poly lineup this season. In her first year as a starter in 2019, Dvoracek averaged 4.25 kills per set overall and 5.09 kills per set during conference matches. Her 4.25 kills per set ranked second most in the conference that year. She was also top-five in the nation in service aces per set at .58 and 64 total aces. She recorded double-digit kills in the final 20 matches of the 2019 season and had 20 or more kills on seven matches, including a career-high 30 against Utah. She also averaged 2.21 digs per set and had seven double-doubles on the year. She was named an AVCA Third Team All-American as well as First Team All-Big West and AVCA Pacific North All-Region RETURNING POWER: Although the program lost seven letterwinners from last year's team, eight are back this year for the Mustangs, including five who played in at least 80 sets last season. In addition to Dvoracek and Stockham, several key pieces return. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips, a three-time All-Big West honoree, is back after leading the team last season in blocks (118) and hitting percentage (.310) while also being second in kills (2.40 per set). Back for her second season after playing in 111 of 112 sets as a freshman last season is redshirt sophomore middle blocker Kate Slack. Last season, Slack was second on the team in blocks with 90 and was sixth in kills at 1.32 per set. Redshirt sophomore Amy Hiatt will be another key piece off the bench for the Mustangs this season. In her first season of action last year, she played in 86 sets and was third on the team in kills with 228. She had at least 10 kills in 10 matches.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Now at the halfway point of conference play, Cal Poly gets ready to begin the second half of Big West this weekend when finishing up a four-match road trip at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. The Mustangs (11-9, 8-2 BW), who are tied for second in the Big West standings with UCSB and one game behind first heading into the second half, take on the Titans (11-7, 5-5 BW) Friday at 7 p.m. inside Titan Gym. They then face The Beach (12-6, 7-3 BW) Saturday at 7 p.m. inside Walter Pyramid. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+. Links to those as well as live stats can be found on the volleyball schedule page. After winning six straight matches, Cal Poly suffered just its second loss of conference play last Saturday to UC Irvine 3-1. That was after sweeping UC San Diego on Friday. Through the first half of conference play, Cal Poly ranks top five in the Big West in hitting percentage (.251), opponent hitting percentage (.180), assists (12.24), kills (13.49), blocks (2.35), aces (1.92), and digs (15.05). Individually, redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham leads the conference in kills at 3.74 per set. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips leads the Big West in blocks at 1.30 per set. Senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek leads the Big West in aces with 42, is second in points at 4.45 per set, is fourth in kills at 3.54 per set, and is ninth in digs at 3.26 per set. Freshman setter Emme Bullis ranks third in assists at 9.62 per set. SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Sitting at 5-5 in Big West play, Cal State Fullerton heads into Friday's match having won its last two matches after beating both UC Davis and UC Riverside last week. As a team, the Titans are second in the Big West in digs. Cal Poly swept the Titans back in September at home. Long Beach State heads into the week fourth in the conference standings at 7-3. They have the longest win streak going in the Big West at six straight. Outside hitter Morgan Chacon is tied for first in the Big West in kills while setter Zayna Meyer is second in assists and libero Dylan Dela Cruz is third in digs. Cal Poly has won eight of the last nine meetings against The Beach, including a 3-1 win earlier this season at home. STRAIGHT KILLERS: Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham and senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek hold two spots of the top five spots in the Big West in kills per set. Stockham is averaging 3.74 per set which leads the Big West while Dvoracek is fourth at 3.54 per set. DOUBLE-DOUBLE CAL POLY STYLE: Three Mustangs have recorded at least five double-doubles on the season. Dvoracek leads the team with 12, redshirt freshman setter Emme Bullis has 10, and Stockham has eight. BLOCK PARTY: Through the first 20 matches of the season, the Mustangs are third in the Big West and are 32nd in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 2.55 per set. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips leads in the Big West and ranks 28th in the nation in blocks per set at 1.30. Phillips ranks seventh all-time in program history in career blocks with 399. ACE IN THE HOLE: Now with 106 career aces to her name, senior Maia Dvoracek has moved into second all-time in program history with a career aces per set average of .49 and seventh all-time for career aces. She recorded 64 of those in 2019, just two shy of the all-time Cal Poly single-season mark. She also has the program record for aces in a match with 8. STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Cal Poly put itself to the test in non-conference play with all 10 of their first matches on the road. Five of those were against teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2021. PRESEASON COACHES' POLL: Cal Poly was selected to finish third in the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll. They were picked behind two-time defending champion Hawai'i and last year's second place finisher UC Santa Barbara. The Mustangs last won the Big West title in 2018. DVORACEK, STOCKHAM NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG WEST TEAM: Cal Poly senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham were each named to the eight-player Big West Preseason All-Conference Team. Stockham is back for her second year with the Mustangs after earning First Team All-Conference honors last season. The outside hitter led the team and was fourth in the Big West in kills at 3.54 per set. That included posting at least 20 kills five times, six double-doubles, and double digit kills in 16 of 20 conference matches. Dvoracek last played in 2019 due to the 2020 season being cancelled due to the pandemic and was forced to miss the 2021 season while recovering from a severe knee injury. She burst on to the scene in 2019 in her first year as a starter. That year, she led the team and was second in the Big West in kills at 4.25 per set in addition to ranking top-five in the nation in service aces. She was named First Team All-Big West and an AVCA Third Team All-American, becoming the seventh Mustang in program history to be named to one of the three All-American teams. GUESS WHO'S BACK?: After being forced to miss the 2021 season while she recovered from a serious knee injury, senior outside hitter Maia Dvoracek returns to the Cal Poly lineup this season. In her first year as a starter in 2019, Dvoracek averaged 4.25 kills per set overall and 5.09 kills per set during conference matches. Her 4.25 kills per set ranked second most in the conference that year. She was also top-five in the nation in service aces per set at .58 and 64 total aces. She recorded double-digit kills in the final 20 matches of the 2019 season and had 20 or more kills on seven matches, including a career-high 30 against Utah. She also averaged 2.21 digs per set and had seven double-doubles on the year. She was named an AVCA Third Team All-American as well as First Team All-Big West and AVCA Pacific North All-Region RETURNING POWER: Although the program lost seven letterwinners from last year's team, eight are back this year for the Mustangs, including five who played in at least 80 sets last season. In addition to Dvoracek and Stockham, several key pieces return. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips, a three-time All-Big West honoree, is back after leading the team last season in blocks (118) and hitting percentage (.310) while also being second in kills (2.40 per set). Back for her second season after playing in 111 of 112 sets as a freshman last season is redshirt sophomore middle blocker Kate Slack. Last season, Slack was second on the team in blocks with 90 and was sixth in kills at 1.32 per set. Redshirt sophomore Amy Hiatt will be another key piece off the bench for the Mustangs this season. In her first season of action last year, she played in 86 sets and was third on the team in kills with 228. She had at least 10 kills in 10 matches.
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