Mustangs Look to Move Up in Standings This Week Hosting UC San Diego, LBSU

Friday, November 10

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

7 P.M.

UC San Diego

Mustangs Look to Move Up in Standings This Week Hosting UC San Diego, LBSU

11/8/2023 5:55:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Coming off its biggest win of the season last weekend at Hawai'i, Cal Poly volleyball returns home this weekend to begin a four-match homestand to finish the regular season.

The Mustangs (16-10, 10-4 BW), who are tied for third in the Big West standings, will host UC San Diego Friday and second-place Long Beach State Saturday at Mott Athletics Center.

Both matches start at 7 p.m. and will be aired live on ESPN+. Links for those and live stats can be found on the schedule page.

With four matches left to go in the regular season, Cal Poly currently finds itself two games behind Long Beach State for second place in the Big West standings and three behind leader UCSB. A pair of wins this weekend would go a long way in helping the Mustangs climb up into second place and try to get one of the first round byes in the Big West Championship in two weeks.

Last Friday, the Mustangs pulled off a five-set win at Hawai'i, marking the second road win in program history over the Rainbow Wahine. Cal Poly has proven to be very comfortable going the distance this year, having played 10 five-set matches this season and are 8-2 in those matches. Four of those wins have been via reverse sweep.

Redshirt junior outside hitter Tommi Stockham led Cal Poly in kills in that match with 17 kills. Stockham leads the team with 3.14 kills per set while redshirt sophomore outside hitter Lizzy Markovska is right behind at 3.11 kills per set. Stockham ranks fifth in the Big West in that category while Markovska is sixth. Stockham also leads the Big West in aces with 42. As a team, the Mustangs also lead the Big West in aces with 178, which is 32nd in the nation.

Stockham and Markovska have each had 19 matches with double digit kills. Stockham currently ranks 10th in program history for career kills.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: UC San Diego comes into Friday's match having won six in a row to put their record at 17-9 overall and 9-5 in Big West play. The Tritons are not eligible to make the Big West Championship this year as this is the last year of their reclassification period. Ava McInnes leads both the Tritons and the Big West in kills at 3.81 per set while Emily McDaniel leads the Big West in blocks per set at 1.39.

Long Beach State has won eight straight matches and head into the week 18-6 overall and 12-2 in Big West play. When Cal Poly faced them earlier this season in Long Beach, the Beach just came out on top in five sets. Elise Agi is fourth in the Big West in kills at 3.39 per set to lead them. Their setter, Zayna Meyer, is second in the Big West in assists at 10.20 per set.

DEFENSE IS THE CALLING CARD: So far this season, it has been Cal Poly's defense that has led them to several wins. As a team, they rank 84th in the nation and third in the Big West in blocks per set (2.31).

Individually, libero Jolei Akima is third in the Big West in digs per set at 4.07. Meanwhile, Kate Slack is second in the Big West and 30th in the country in blocks with 115. Over the weekend, Slack surpassed 300 career blocks.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE, CAL POLY STYLE: Cal Poly has had several players doing multiple things on the court and reach double-doubles.

Redshirt junior outside hitter Tommi Stockham leads the team with 10 double-doubles so far this season.

Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Lizzy Markovska is right behind her with nine double-doubles.

Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore setter Emme Bullis has four double-doubles through assists and digs.

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 will host UC Riverside Friday, Nov. 17 and UC Davis Saturday, Nov. 18 at Mott Athletics Center. Friday's match is at 7 p.m. while Saturday's match is at 8 p.m.