Mustangs Hit the Road to Face UC Davis, UC Riverside This Week

Thursday, October 5

Davis, CA

6 P.M.

UC Davis

Mustangs Hit the Road to Face UC Davis, UC Riverside This Week

10/4/2023 6:34:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Coming off two wins at home last week, Cal Poly volleyball hits the road this week to begin a stretch of three straight away contests.

The Mustangs (9-7, 3-1 BW) will face UC Davis Thursday at 6 p.m. with the match being aired live on ESPN+.

They then head to UC Riverside for a 4 p.m. match Saturday that will also be aired live on ESPN+.

Links to wach both those matches can be found on the schedule page.

Last week, Cal Poly continued its streak of going five sets as the Mustangs came back from a 2-0 set deficit to win the next three and beat UC Irvine 3-2 at Mott Athletics Center. It marked the fourth time this season that the Mustangs have won via reverse sweep, their fifth five-set win overall, and the seventh five-set match they have played already.

They then took down Cal State Fullerton the next night 3-1 to push their conference record to 3-1 and put themselved in a four-way tie for second place in the Big West standings after the second week.

Offensively, the Mustangs have been led by outside hitters Lizzy Markovska and Tommi Stockham. Markovska leads the team with 3.11 kills per set while Stockham is right behind at 3.05 kills per set.

Stockham has had 13 matches with double digit kills while Markovska has had 12.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: UC Davis heads into the match 9-5 overall and are off to a 4-0 start in Big West play. Winners of their last six, the Aggies have beat Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, CSU Bakersfield, and CSUN so far in conference play.

Cal Poly leads the all-time series with the Aggies 23-12 and have won the last 12 meetings. The last time UC Davis beat Cal Poly was in the 2015 season.

UC Riverside is 4-12 overall but off to a 3-1 start in Big West play. They have won their last three matches and rank third in the Big West in digs during conference play so far.

The Mustangs are 34-8 all-time against the Highlaners and have won the last 14 meetings, 11 of which via sweep.

DEFENSE IS THE CALLING CARD: So far this season, it has been the Cal Poly's defense that has led them to wins. As a team, they rank 61st in the nation and tops in the Big West in digs per set (15.47) and 73rd in the nation and third in the Big West in blocks per set (2.35).

Individually, libero Jolei Akima is 44th in the nation and second in the Big West in digs per set at 4.65. Meanwhile, Kate Slack ranks 21st in the country and second in the Big West in blocks with 73.

YOUTH RULES: Cal Poly is one of four teams in Division I without a senior on its roster. The other three are Canisius, Baylor, and Syracuse.

UP NEXT: Following this week's matches, Cal Poly has two big time matches next week. The Mustangs will have a road test at rival UCSB Thursday, Oct. 12 followed by the always anticipated home match against Hawai'i Saturday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.