Cal Poly Opens 2022 Season Friday Against Utah State

Friday, August 26

Logan, UT

10 A.M.

Utah State

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Opens 2022 Season Friday Against Utah State

8/23/2022 1:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

WEEKLY MATCH NOTES (PDF)
MUSTANG INSIDER WITH CAROLINE WALTERS

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly volleyball team will begin its 2022 season Friday when opening on the road in Logan, Utah against Utah State. The Mustangs will then remain in Logan Saturday to face No. 12 UCLA. First serve against the Aggies is slated for 10 a.m. PT while first serve against the No. 12 Bruins Saturday is set for 9 a.m. PT. Following Saturday's match, Cal Poly will head to Orem, Utah to take on Utah Valley on Monday, August 29 at 5 p.m PT. FOLLOW CAL POLY: Daniel Gillman will be calling Friday and Saturday's matches via a remote audio broadcast on GoPoly.com. That link, along with live stat and streaming links for both matches will be available on Utah State's website with the links for those also on the volleyball schedule page of GoPoly.com. RECAPPING THE 2021 SEASON: The 2021 Mustang volleyball team finished the regular season with a 15-16 overall record and 13-7 in the Big West for a third-place finish. It was the sixth straight season the Mustangs have finished in the top three of the Big West standings. Outside hitter Tommi Stockham, who was fourth in the Big West in kills per set at 3.54 was named First Team All-Conference. Middle blocker Meredith Phillips, who led the Mustangs and was fifth in the Big West in blocks and second on the team in kills earned Honorable Mention All-Conference honors. 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. Cal Poly is one of three programs to have two players named to the Preseason All-Conference along with Hawai'i and Long Beach State. UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine each have one. 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, becoming the seventh player in program history to be named to one of the three All-American teams. She was also named First Team All-Big West and AVCA Pacific North All-Region In a match against Wichita State that season, she tied the program record for aces in a match with eight. 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). Senior setter Avalon DeNecochea, the Mustangs' starting setter the last three seasons, returns for her final season. Coming into the season, she ranks sixth in program history for career assists with 3,187. Last year, she was second in the Big West in assists at 10.31 per set. She was also third on the team in blocks (69), digs (198) and service aces (24) and posted three double-doubles. Back for her second season after playing in 111 of 112 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. She was also fourth on the team in blocks with 52. SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: This weekend's tournament in Logan, UT is a familiar one for the Mustangs. In 2018, Cal Poly played in a tournament there, going 3-0 beating LMU, UTRGV, and Utah State. The Mustangs are 14-7 all-time against Utah State and have won the last two meetings with the last being a 3-0 win at Utah State in 2018. In 2021, the Aggies were 22-9, including a 12-1 home record. They made it to the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament, losing to Boise State. UCLA leads the all-time series against Cal Poly, 11-3. However, the Mustangs have won the last two meetings, beating the Bruins back-to-back nights at home in 2018. In 2021, UCLA finished with a 25-6 record and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual champion Wisconsin.