Mustangs Return Home to Open Big West Play This Week

Friday, September 23

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

7 P.M.

Long Beach State

Tickets

Mustangs Return Home to Open Big West Play This Week

9/20/2022 12:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After playing its first 10 matches of the season on the road, all of which in non-conference play, the Cal Poly volleyball team will finally get a chance to play in front of its home crowd for the first time this season when opening Big West play. The Mustangs (3-7) will host Long Beach State Friday and Cal State Fullerton Saturday. First serve for both matches is set for 7 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Daniel Gillman and Harry Kaseff on the call. Links to that as well as live stats can be found on the volleyball schedule page of GoPoly.com Friday's match against Long Beach is Volleyball vs. Cancer night. Fans are encouraged to wear the color lavender in support of the fight against all forms of cancer. Earlier this past year, Cal Poly freshman Brooklyn Burns went through her own battle with Hodgkin Lymphoma which she beat in the spring. Saturday's match against Fullerton is Kids Night with all kids 13 and under getting in to the match for free. The Mustangs are riding a three-match win streak headed into Friday's match. At last week's Northern Colorado Classic, they beat Santa Clara, Northern Colorado, and Tarleton State via sweep. Tommi Stockham was named tournament MVP while Maia Dvoracek was named to the All-Tournament team. SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Long Beach State finished non-conference play with a 5-3 record under first-year head coach Tyler Hildebrand. Redshirt junior outside hitter is leading the Big West in kills at 3.94 per set. Although Long Beach leads the all-time series, Cal Poly has won seven of the last eight meetings. Cal State Fullerton had the best non-conference record of all Big West teams at 6-2 and are winners of their last five matches. As a team, they lead the Big West and are sixth in the nation in digs per set at 17.5. Last year, the Titans beat Cal Poly for the first time since 2013. 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. DVORACEK EARNS BIG WEST HONOR: After averaging 4.11 kills per set while hitting .351 in the Mustangs' three sweeps last week, senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek was named this week's Big West Offensive Player of the Week. It's her first honor of the season and sixth of her career after winning it five times in 2019. BLOCK PARTY: Through the first 10 matches of the season, the Mustangs lead the Big West and are 15th in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 2.74 per set. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips leads the Big West and ranks 15th in the nation in blocks per set at 1.46 per set. Phillips has now moved into 10th all-time in program history in career solo blocks with 60, career blocks assists with 297, and career total blocks with 357. ACE IN THE HOLE: Now with 78 career aces to her name, senior Maia Dvoracek has moved into fourth all-time in program history with a career aces per set average of .44. 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. 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). 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.