Sacramento State
Home Tournament Marks Start of 2024 Cal Poly Volleyball Season
8/28/2024 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After a busy slate of offseason preparation that included a team-bonding trip to various locations in Europe while also playing teams in the area, the Cal Poly Volleyball team is set to kick off its 45th year of Division I competition.
The 2024 season begins with a trio of matches during a home tournament that Cal Poly is hosting for visitors Sacramento State, Saint Mary’s, and Arkansas. The Mustangs will play each team once while offering Mott Athletics Center for a pair of neutral site matches, totaling five between the four teams over volleyball’s opening weekend.
Echoing the last time they won the Big West, the Mustangs are searching for their first opening-season win since 2018. They will have a chance to do just that at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30 when hosting Sacramento State for the very first match of 2024.
A successful team in their own right, the Hornets put together a 22-12 (13-3 Big Sky) record in 2023 en route to a second round Big Sky Tournament exit at the hands of Weber State before a subsequent National Invitational Volleyball Championship nod. Dating back to the first meeting between Cal Poly and Sacramento State in 1991, the Mustangs own a definitive 12-6 record.
Despite the Hornets’ positive 2023 season, Cal Poly did get the upper hand early in the campaign with a 3-0 shutout over the Hornets at their own Sacramento State Invitational with the Mustangs winning the tournament as a whole due to that match. A number of Cal Poly players tallied double-digit totals, including Lizzy Markovska and Tommi Stockham with a combined 25 kills and 20 digs between them, Sam Callahan throwing up 25 assists, and Jolei Akima’s 10 digs. Markovska would go on to be named Tournament MVP after finishing the weekend with 40 kills and 27 digs. Akima was also named to the All-Tournament team for her 55 total digs.
It’s finally that week! The @CPMustangs open the 2024 volleyball season with a home tournament!
— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) August 26, 2024
Come support us this weekend for a trio of matches ????#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/EVrSyZJtCA
"We're honored to be recognized in this year's Big West preseason poll, but it doesn't change our focus...We're excited for the season ahead and look forward to the opportunity to bring the title back to Cal Poly." - Head Coach Caroline Walters#RideHighhttps://t.co/6A8LclBHt2
— Cal Poly Volleyball (@CalPolyVolley) August 21, 2024
The Mustangs get started with day two on Aug. 31 against Saint Mary's at 10:00 a.m., as the Gaels wrap up their own trip in San Luis Obispo. Saint Mary's put together a 16-12 (10-6 WCC) record in 2023 after a streaky up-and-down year that a six-game win run before nine consecutive losses and another six wins following that. Having first played each other in 1988, the Mustangs also have a dominant record against the Gaels at 10-5 with the latest matchup at last season's Mustangs Invitational. During that spectacle, Cal Poly built on its “Cardiac Stangs” name with a 3-2 reverse sweep.
Despite losing their de facto team MVP from last season, Kjersti Strong who led the team in kills and blocks, the Gaels are returning their other two top-3 kills leaders Hannah Taylor and Genevieve Bane. Saint Mary's also returns two players with over a dig per set: Bane and Abby Castillon.
Finally, the prospective marquee match of the tournament wraps the whole thing up. On Aug. 31 at 7:00 p.m., the Mustangs play their first of two consecutive preseason top-25 teams with #19 Arkansas visiting the central coast. Arkansas, ended the 2023 regular season with a 28-6 (15-3 SEC) 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.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Razorbacks and Mustangs have never come up against each other. Although this will be the first matchup between these two in program history, both teams have heavy stakes to play for. Cal Poly is attempting to get back to greatness after the recent surge of Hawai'i championships while Arkansas is in a stacked SEC that has the Razorbacks ranked 8th in the conference preseason poll.
Despite losing all three top hitters, Arkansas retained one of the country's best setters in Hannah Hogue, a 2023 All-America honorable mention who averaged 11.13 assists per set for sixth in the NCAA. Even so, Arkansas will be looking to prove its mettle against one of the west coast's best programs and the Mustangs, themselves, will be looking to knock off their first top-25 team since 2019.
