Cal State Fullerton
Cal Poly Hosts Final Home Matches With Chance to Clinch Postseason Spot
11/12/2024 5:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Just four matches remain in the 2024 regular season, and Cal Poly (17-8, 10-4 BWC) continues its pursuit for a first Big West title since 2018. Heading into the weekend, the Mustangs are tied with Hawai’i, UC Davis, and UC San Diego for first place in the conference.
Playoff Implications
The Mustangs are coming off a pair of sweeps against Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN in which middle blocker Chloe Leluge earned Big West Freshman of the Week. This weekend features a pair of final home matches, first with Cal State Fullerton (4-20, 0-14 BWC) on Friday and finishing with senior night on Saturday against UC Irvine (14-11, 8-6 BWC).
Cal Poly can guarantee itself a postseason spot with a pair of wins this weekend. Assuming the Mustangs move to 12-6 in the conference, even losing both matches next week while the fringe 6th and 7th place teams - UCSB and UCI - would not be able to take the tiebreaker. With that, Cal Poly only plays one more team this season that is tied or higher in the standings: UC Davis next weekend.
Star-Studded Cast
Leluge, reigning Big West Freshman of the Week, committed just one error through 23 attacks for a .696 hitting percentage in a pair of matches and moved back into first in the Big West with a .365 clip. Alongside fellow top-5 hitter in the conference, Breklyn Pulling (.329), Leluge and the Mustangs are first in the Big West and 51st in the country as a team with a .248 hitting percentage.
The Mustangs have hit at least .250 in 14-of-25 matches this season and have yet to collect less than 35 kills in a match. A big reason behind that continues to be setter Emme Bullis who is not only 29th in the nation with 10.39 assists per set but is one of five Mustangs to play in every match and has provided at least 30 assists in 21 matches.
Last week, with Cal Poly's third sweep in four matches and fourth consecutive sweep over CSUN in the last two years, Caroline Walters became the fifth Mustangs head coach to reach the century-wins mark. Walters is looking to take her program to at least 13 conference wins for the fifth consecutive season since taking over as the full-time head coach prior to 2019.
The first year frenzy continues! Chloe Leluge is our second freshman this season to receive conference honors, as the middle blocker earns Big West Freshman of the Week! ??#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/MPO53NKk9S
— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) November 11, 2024
We want YOU to be at Mott Athletics Center this weekend to help celebrate our stunning seniors! ??#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/BEGnk4ZNrW
— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) November 12, 2024
The Titans are continuing to experience an unusually difficult season but are at least already at a higher win total (4) than last season (2) despite still being winless in the conference this season. One of just two teams already mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, the Titans will certainly be looking to break their 15 match losing streak this weekend, so Cal Poly will need to give its all as usual.
After a win over the Titans earlier in the season, Cal Poly extended its lead in the all-time series record to 64-11, which includes winning 18 of the last 19 matchups. Cal State Fullerton last beat the Mustangs in a five-set thriller back in 2021.
Arguably Fullerton’s most impressive player statistically this season is Ashley Chacon who sits 9th in the Big West with 3.00 digs per set. Elsewhere, Bianca Martinez is also 9th with 0.93 blocks per set and Lyla Traylor is 16th with 2.61 kills per set.
Still very much in range to not only make the postseason but even take the regular season title, UC Irvine is at 8-6 and tied with UC Santa Barbara for 6th in the conference standings. The Anteaters are looking to get back on track after dropping in the table due to losses against both UC San Diego and Long Beach State last weekend.
Cal Poly swept UC Irvine back on Oct. 11 during a close match in which all sets ended closely at 25-23. The Mustangs hold bragging rights over the all-time series record at 54-21 and are 6-3 against the Anteaters during Caroline Walters’ reign as head coach. If Cal Poly manages to defeat UC Irvine once again, it will mark the first sweep in back-to-back years over UCI since 2018-19.
UC Irvine is one of, if not the, best defensive programs in the Big West heading into the weekend. The Anteaters lead the conference for blocks (2.56 per set) and are second only to Hawai’i for digs (14.73 per set). UC Irvine populates three of the top-5 individual blocking leaders in the Big West as Ofure Iselen is 2nd (1.26 blocks per set), Ella Gardiner 4th (1.03), and Soana Leaea 5th (1.00). Collectively, the Anteaters have held opponents to a .180 hitting percentage.
