Cal Poly Volleyball Releases 2024 Schedule
7/9/2024 4:15:00 PM | General, Women's Volleyball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — With the 2024 season approaching, Cal Poly volleyball released its 29-match schedule heading into the program’s 45th year of Division I competition.
The Mustangs will kick off the non-conference slate while hosting a tournament in Mott Athletics Center, which also includes three of the program’s 12 total home matches set for the year. The newly released schedule also features a pair of teams ranked in 2023 that made the NCAA tournament.
Despite three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2017-2019 and having not been there or won the Big West since 2018, Cal Poly is still champing at the bit with eight successive seasons of finishing third or higher in-conference.
What sets this team apart from last year is the level of experience we're bringing back at every position. We have key players returning who understand our system inside and out, and that combined with an incoming class of highly motivated and incredibly talented athletes creates an extremely competitive environment in our gym.Head Coach Caroline Walters
Head Coach Caroline Walters enters her fifth year at the helm of Cal Poly this season, leading the program in a home opener against Sacramento State on August 30 at 6:00 p.m. (PT), which will be followed up by a split-doubleheader the next day against Saint Mary’s and Arkansas to wrap up the Mustang-hosted tournament.
Sacramento State, Cal Poly’s first opponent of 2024 and the Big Sky’s reigning regular season champion, posted a fantastic 22-12 overall record in 2023 and even pushed No. 3 Florida to the brink in a 2-3 fifth-set loss last year. The Hornets eventually went on to participate in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, sweeping UNLV before losing to conference rivals Montana State.
The most notable opponent from that opening tournament, Arkansas, ended the 2023 regular season with a 28-6 record. Ranked No. 8 by the AVCA, the Razorbacks made a run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Championship Tournament with three consecutive sweeps over LIU, Missouri, and Georgia Tech before falling to the eventual runner-up and perennial title contender Nebraska.
After kicking off the season with three of their 12 total home games, the Mustangs then hit the road for a nearly month-long road stint that will last from September 5-28, including 10 games away from Mott with four of those being neutral-site matchups within tournaments. At the forefront of the road trip is another ranked squad and NCAA Tournament member from 2023: No. 25 Florida State, which went 23-9 last season prior to a first round exit.
That tournament is jointly-hosted by Troy and Auburn, with the Florida State match set for September 5 at 6:00 p.m. (PT) in Auburn, Alabama. Cal Poly then faces one of the hosts, Auburn, a third consecutive opponent that made the 2023 NCAA Tournament, on September 6 at 4:00 p.m. (PT). This will be just the third matchup against the Tigers in Cal Poly’s Division I history, with the only two matches coming in 1994 and 1995 where the foes split results 1-1. Wrapping up the season’s first road tournament, the Mustangs then travel less than 100 miles to face the other host, Troy, on September 7 at 2:00 p.m. (PT).
Overall, I'm excited about the talent and mindset of this group and excited to see the variety of player combinations we can utilize. This experience, confidence, and a tough preseason schedule positions us well for another competitive run in 2024.Head Coach Caroline Walters
Cardiac Stangs do it again!!!
— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) November 23, 2023
Mustangs pull of their 5??th reverse sweep of the year and comeback to beat UC Davis in 5!
Up next ?? Hawai'i on Friday#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/4wX2CqabxG
The packed September road schedule will also feature two final non-conference tournaments in Las Vegas where the Mustangs find themselves against hosts UNLV with a neutral site matchup versus North Texas from September 12-13. During the following week, Cal Poly heads to the midwest for a Wichita State-hosted tournament from September 19-21 with an opening match against the hosts and a pair of neutral site clashes against Omaha and Northern Colorado.
Finally, conference play begins at CSUN on September 27 while keeping to the road on September 28 at Cal State Bakersfield. The Mustangs will get their first conference home games the week after with UC Davis and UC Riverside set for October 4 and 5.
Cal Poly, however, has to wait until later in the conference schedule for revenge games against teams that handed the Mustangs their only Big West losses of 2023. The Mustangs get that opportunity against all of those opponents in a three-game stretch: at Long Beach State on October 24, and home against UC Santa Barbara and Hawai’i in the same weekend from October 17-18 with all three of those big matches taking place at 7:00 p.m. (PT). The home matchup against the Gauchos is also notable for its rivalry significance as Cal Poly has a chance to overturn UCSB’s two straight sweeps from 2022-23 during the annual Blue-Green matchup.
As is the case with last season’s changes to the Big West schedule in accommodation of a conference tournament, there will be 18 Big West games instead of the previous 20-game standard. This also means that Cal Poly will play UC San Diego and Long Beach State just once this season rather than twice.
For only the second time in Big West history, the conference will host its own postseason championship with the location and time still to be announced. Last season, Long Beach State hosted the inaugural tournament in which Hawai’i took home the title over the hosts themselves.
The Mustangs came up against UC Davis in the first round and managed to pull off a reverse sweep, bolstering their nickname of the “Cardiac Stangs” on the back of Emme Bullis’ 38-assists and 17-digs double-double as well as the hitter duo of Tommi Stockham and Annabelle Thalken both tallying double-digit kills. Despite a spirited effort to get started, Cal Poly were swept 3-0 by eventual champions and NCAA Round-of-32 member Hawai’i.
Our successful campaign (in 2023) gave our players a lot of confidence, and rightfully so. We're leveraging that confidence as we face a challenging preseason schedule designed to boost our RPI. This approach is crucial for us heading into the always competitive Big West Conference and the new Big West Tournament in which anything can happen.Head Coach Caroline Walters
In a turn of favor for the Mustangs, only one student-athlete from the 2023 starting lineup graduated, but regardless those are big shoes to fill as veteran libero Jolei Akima leaves a spot available for the taking in Cal Poly’s defense. Prospectively, Akima’s replacement looks to be sophomore Ella Scott who posted respectable numbers in relief as a freshman defensive specialist during 23 matches and 89 sets last season.
After finishing 2023 with a 21-11 overall and 14-4 conference record, tied for 2nd in the Big West standings, the Mustangs were rewarded with first-team honors given to three of five 2024 returning starters. Tommi Stockham made it eight consecutive years of Cal Poly players receiving first-team honors after participating in all 130 sets while totaling 416 kills, 47 service aces, and 293 digs.
Tommi Stockham continues to grow her legend as the outside hitter returns to lead Cal Poly in her redshirt senior season and fourth as a Mustang. After a third successive All-Big West First Team nod, Stockham will be attempting to accomplish a rare feat in the Big West: become just the second Mustang and 14th player in Big West history to make the Four-Time First Team list.
Along with other notable returners, Lizzy Markovska was also named to the second team while Emme Bullis made the honorable mentions list. In total, the Mustangs are returning 98% of their scoring and 93% of setting from last season’s offense, while also returning 71% of their digs and 99% of blocks on the defensive side.
In a possible 5-1 formation, as the Mustangs have been known to deploy at most points throughout their season, the lineup will most likely include the aforementioned libero hole filled by Ella Scott (145 DIG, 1.16 DIG/S, .924 REC%), middle blockers Kate Slack (130 SP, 141.0 BLK, 1.08 BLK/S, 184 K, 1.42 K/S, .263 PCT) and newcomer Breklyn Pulling who previously had a breakout season as a MB/OH hybrid at Big West rival Cal State Bakersfield, premier setter Emme Bullis (973 A, 7.48 A/S, 31 SA, 268 DIG, 2.06 DIG/S), and finally the returning outside hitter trio of Tommi Stockham, Lizzy Markovska (128 SP, 368 K, 2.88 K/S, 36 SA, 266 DIG, 2.08 DIG/S, 49.0 BLK) and Annabelle Thalken (130 SP, 259 K, 2.37 K/S).
We're not surprised
— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) November 21, 2023
Congrats to Tommi Stockham on being named First Team All-Big West for a third straight season!#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/EM8dr8RnEh
To view the entire 2024 schedule, click HERE. Season tickets will be made available for purchase soon and can be found HERE.
You can also support the Cal Poly volleyball program and directly benefit and impact the success of Mustang student-athletes in the classroom and in competition by clicking HERE.
Youth season tickets can be purchased through the Mustang Kids Club. By joining the Mustang Kids Club, kids in eighth grade and under can enjoy many exclusive benefits, including receiving a T-shirt, lanyard and badge, as well as access to special events just for members. There are three levels of membership to the Mustang Kids Club — Base, Stampede and Pro. The Base membership costs just $25 and each level features some different benefits. For more information and to sign-up for the Mustang Kids Club click HERE.
