Cal State Bakersfield
Cal Poly Enters Final Regular Season Home Stretch with CSUB and CSUN
11/6/2024 4:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After three consecutive weeks of split results, Cal Poly (15-8, 8-4 BWC) goes into the weekend tied for third with UC Irvine and UC San Diego in a tight Big West Conference.
This weekend presents a golden opportunity to sweep a pair of matches against Cal State Bakersfield (11-13, 5-7 BWC) and CSUN (8-15, 3-9 BWC), as well as potentially regain a top-two spot in the standings.
We're kicking off our final two week, four game home stretch with CSUB and CSUN this weekend in Mott Athletics Center!#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/KMuXBNEaRr
— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) November 4, 2024
Meeting Milestones
Fifth-year Head Coach Caroline Walters is quickly closing in on 100 career wins, just two away from the milestone heading into the weekend.
A Santa Clara University product and West Coast Conference legend, Walters is in her 15th overall year with Cal Poly, spending eight years as an assistant coach on top of a handful of stints as either associate or interim head coach.
Since fully taking over for Sam Crosson in 2019, Walters has compiled winning seasons in three of the last four while recording at least 13 Big West wins in all four.
Once she passes the century-win threshold, she will enter the esteemed company of Sam Crosson (114), Jon Stevenson (115), Steve Schlick (135), and Mike Wilton (143) as Cal Poly coaches who have met that same milestone.
To date, Walters has also notched 62 Big West victories, nearing Crosson and Stevenson’s 66 wins for second among Cal Poly coaches in the conference.
About Last Week
Cal Poly swept the Blue-Green series for the first time since 2018 with a pair of shutout wins over UC Santa Barbara. During Tuesday’s 3-0 victory, Tommi Stockham passed Melanie Hathaway with her 1,469th career kill and fourth of 15 in that match, vaulting the redshirt senior to third all-time in program history for career kills.
Elsewhere last week both Chloe Leluge and Breklyn Pulling terrorized opposing hitters with 10 total blocks apiece. Elif Hurriyet, reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Week at the time, gathered at least 20 digs for the fourth time this season during a fantastic effort against the Gauchos.
Aside from Stockham moving up in the record books, Amy Hiatt is enjoying her breakout stretch of the season as she has arguably been the second-most offensive consistent Mustang over the last two weeks.
Hiatt tallied 10 kills each against UCSB and Hawai’i while committing just three errors in 41 attempts for a .412 hitting percentage. She has posted double-digit kills in five of the last seven matches, totaling 16 blocks.
With an 11-2 record over the Roadrunners in just 13 matches since their first meeting in 1979, the Mustangs not only carry the all-time series but have also won the last four matches against Cal State Bakersfield by a 12-4 set score.
Last time out, Cal Poly visited Bakersfield and broke up the momentum of a two-match win streak for the `Runners after their victories over UC Santa Barbara and Fresno State. During that contest, the Mustangs were firmly in control despite a relatively close score (25-21, 25-22, 25-22), holding CSUB to just .168 team hitting while tallying at least 13 kills every set and hitting .344 against the `Runners.
Emme Bullis starred with 37 assists (12.33 per set) while five Mustangs collected five or more kills and Elif Hurriyet tallied 13 digs. CSUB’s top hitter from that match, Sydney Dunning, remains the player to watch if Cal Poly hopes to sweep the series this season. Dunning recently jumped Stockham for second in the Big West with 3.61 kills per set, and she also paces the conference with .44 aces per set.
The Matadors were Cal Poly’s Big West opener on the road and have since won just three matches with all those being over teams lower than them in the standings: UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton. Even so, it’s been a tale of two teams for CSUN as the Matadors have also taken top programs UC Davis and Hawai’i to five sets in October, showing their danger if left unchecked.
After opening the 2024 Big West season with dual sweeps over CSUB and CSUN, Cal Poly holds a 42-26 all-time series lead over the Matadors and a 15-1 record in the last decade. The Mustangs swept CSUN 12 times in that span, only dropping four sets through the 15 wins.
Despite CSUN’s struggles in the win column, Hailey Brockway and Amaris Smith are enjoying standout seasons, equally tied for fifth in the conference with 3.48 kills per set. Aiding them is Katie Kolar, two-time Big West Setter of the Week this season and currently third in the conference with 9.91 assists per set. Arguably one of the Big West’s most exciting young guns, libero Paige Sentes paces the conference with 3.98 digs per set.
