UC Davis
Mustangs Host UC Davis and UC Riverside for Big West Homecoming
10/2/2024 4:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — On a dominant four-game win streak and 15-3 set differential through that run, Cal Poly (9-4, 2-0 BWC) returns home after a month-long road stint to finally host UC Davis (6-5, 1-1 BWC) and UC Riverside (5-10, 0-2 BWC) for a pair of Big West homecoming matches.
Superstar Setting
The Mustangs are currently second in the Big West for assists per set (12.06), which is in large part due to redshirt junior Emme Bullis. The Whitewater, Wis. native is on pace to shatter her single-season career-high numbers as she sits comfortably at the top of the conference with 10.71 assists per set, which is also good for 15th in Division I volleyball.
Bullis helped the Mustangs sweep and shut out their first two conference opponents last weekend, earning her seventh career Big West Setter of the Week nod as a result. She supplied 11.33 assists per set to pair with Cal Poly’s .358 hitting percentage through the pair of wins.
Playing the Hits (and Blocks)
At the moment, Cal Poly’s greatest team stat on the national scale is a .245 hitting clip, which is 60th in the Division I landscape while pacing the Big West. With two players in the top-10 hitting percentage rankings for the conference, middle blockers Chloe Leluge and Breklyn Pulling, the Mustangs have enjoyed a trio of .300+ hitting performances this season.
Tommi Stockham, despite a career highlighted more by her kills and not by hitting percentage, is enjoying a career season in terms of accuracy with her current clip (.234) far ahead of her previous high (.210) to this date. This is greatly helped by a nearly flawless weekend to open Big West play, collecting 20 kills to just 2 errors for a .383 hitting percentage through the two matches.
Leluge (.398) is second in the conference and paces Cal Poly in hitting while also second for blocks (1.10 per set) as a true freshman. Pulling is not too far behind either, putting up .72 blocks per set at the moment to help the Mustangs sit fourth in the Big West with 1.98 per set as a team.
Emme Bullis earned her seventh career @BigWestSports Setter of the Week nod after averaging 11.33 assists per set in a pair of sweeps over CSUN and CSUB!
— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) September 30, 2024
Read the full story on https://t.co/8S5PNK9Tjn#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/ac1LM0fXBT
With a 26-12 all-time record over the Aggies, Cal Poly comes into this weekend’s homecoming match on a 15-match and 8-year-long win streak over UC Davis.
UCD paces the conference in digs per set and puts together one of the best (statistical) defenses in the entirety of D1 volleyball as the Aggies sit 63rd with 15.57 digs per set.
The Aggies are led by Julia Ng (4.18 digs per set) and the duo of Olivia Utterback (3.30 kills per set) and Jade Light (3.27 kills).
Although experiencing a rough start to the season with back-to-back losses in the Big West, the Highlanders have their service game to fall back on, which ranks 40th in Division I volleyball and 1st in the conference at 95 total aces.
Cal Poly is 36-8 in the all-time series against UC Riverside after a 16-0 run through the last decade of matches. The Mustangs are also riding an eight-match shutout streak over the Highlanders since 2018.
True sophomore and beach volleyball dual-sport athlete Brianna Bowyer is 62nd in the country with 22 service aces, second in the conference only to the first place athlete one ace ahead of her. Jessica Dean (4.30 digs per set) is also a force from the back row and places second in the Big West for digs.
Due to a scheduling conflict with Cal Poly home football on Saturday there will not be an ESPN+ stream, but live stats can still be found here
