Mustangs Head to Pacific Northwest This Week for Four Matches

Thursday, September 8

Seattle, WA

11 A.M.

Northwestern

Mustangs Head to Pacific Northwest This Week for Four Matches

9/6/2022 1:40:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After having this past weekend off, the Cal Poly volleyball team returns to action this week with four matches all in the Pacific Northwest. The Mustangs (0-3) head to Seattle Thursday to face Northwestern at 11 a.m. and No. 24 Pepperdine at 5 p.m. to kick off the Husky Invitational. Friday, they face the host school in No. 13 Washington at 7:30 p.m. Cal Poly then travels to Portland to take on Portland State at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The 10 non-conference road matches to start the season is the longest stretch Cal Poly has played without a home match since the 2017 season when the first 12 matches that year were on the road. To begin its 2022 season, the Mustangs tested themselves against tough teams right away. Their first three matches of the season all were against teams who either won a regular season/postseason conference title or made the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Despite losing all three matches, Cal Poly fans got to see the anticipated return of 2019 AVCA All-American outside hitter Maia Dvoracek. She totaled 30 kills in those three matches and had two double-doubles. Fans also saw the debut of new setter Emme Bullis make her collegiate debut. She averaged 8.64 assists per set and recorded two double-doubles. Overall, there were five players who appeared in their first matches in a Cal Poly uniform during the opening weekend. FOLLOW CAL POLY: All four of Cal Poly's matches this week will be live streamed. Daniel Gillman will be calling Thursday and Friday's matches for Pac-12.com. Sunday's match against Portland State will be streamed on ESPN+. Those links, along with live stats will be available on the volleyball schedule page of GoPoly.com. SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Cal Poly will be facing Northwestern for the first time since 1983 on Thursday. The Wildcats are 6-0 so far this season and are second in the nation in hitting percentage at .332. No. 24 Pepperdine, coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, is off to a 5-1 start this year that includes a win over No. 9 Baylor. They rank ninth in the nation in blocks per set (2.9). Coming off a Sweet 16 run in 2021, No. 13 Washington is 3-1 so far in 2022. The Huskies rank fourth in the nation in kills per set (15.13). Cal Poly leads the all-time series 4-2, however, Washington has won the last two matchups including a 3-1 win last season. Portland State heads into the week 2-4 so far this season. They are coming off a 20-11 record in 2021 in which they were selected for the NIVC Tournament. This will be the first time facing the Vikings since 2004. Cal Poly leads the all-time series 4-1. 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. 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 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.