Mustangs Take Five-Match Win Streak to UCSB, CSUN

Friday, September 30

Goleta, CA

7:30 P.M.

UCSB

Cal Poly volleyball celebration vs Long Beach State 9-23-22

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Mustangs Take Five-Match Win Streak to UCSB, CSUN

9/27/2022 2:06:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Winners of five straight matches, Cal Poly will play its first Big West road matches of the season this week, one of which will be nationally televised. The Mustangs (5-7, 2-0 BW) will travel south to face Blue-Green rival UCSB Friday at 7:30 p.m. followed by a trip to play CSUN Saturday at 5 p.m. Friday's match against the Gauchos (6-6, 2-0 BW) will be nationally televised on ESPNU with Paul Sunderland and Amy Gant on the call. Fans can also watch the match on ESPN+. Saturday's match against the Matadors (5-9, 0-2 BW) will be streamed live on ESPN+. Links to both matches can be found on the schedule page of GoPoly.com. Cal Poly opened Big West play last week against Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, its first two home matches of the season. The Mustangs gave the home crowd a strong showing, beating Long Beach State, 3-1, before sweeping Cal State Fullerton the next night, 3-0. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham averaged 4.86 kills per set for the weekend, hitting .347, and 3.00 digs per set while senior right side hitter Maia Dvoracek averaged 4.43 kills per set, hitting .313, and 3.57 digs per set. SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: UCSB opened conference play last week with a pair of five set wins over UC San Diego and UC Irvine. They've won their last four matches after winning their last two non-conference matches, both against Georgetown. The Gauchos are led by outside hitter Tallulah Froley's 3.02 kills per set which ranks ninth in the Big West. One of the assistant coaches for UCSB is former Mustang standout Adlee Van Winden. During her career at Cal Poly, 2015-18, Adlee was Big West Freshman of the Year, four time All-Conference honoree, and two-time Honorable Mention All-American. CSUN lost both of its first two matches of conference play last week to UC Irvine and UC San Diego and have lost three straight matches. Nicole Nevarez paces the Matadors at 2.89 kills per set, 13th in the Big West. CSUN won the last matchup last season. However, prior to that the Mustangs had won the previous 11 meetings dating back to 2014. 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. BLOCK PARTY: Through the first 12 matches of the season, the Mustangs lead the Big West and are 22nd in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 2.67 per set. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips leads the Big West and ranks 20th in the nation in blocks per set at 1.41. Phillips has now moved into 10th all-time in program history in career solo blocks with 61, career blocks assists with 304, and career total blocks with 365. ACE IN THE HOLE: Now with 80 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.