Last week, Cal Poly Volleyball fell to two of the top teams in the Big West: UC Santa Barbara and Hawai’i. The Mustangs bounced back with a 3-0 win over CSUN on Thursday, Oct. 19, at home.
The Mustangs bring their record to 6-3 in the conference and 12-9 overall.
Redshirt junior outside hitter Lizzy Markovska, who is second in the Big West in total kills, led the offense with 11. Redshirt freshman Tess Masingale hit an efficient .583 on seven kills.
The Mustang defense locked down the Matadors, keeping them at a .084 hitting percentage. Redshirt junior middle blocker Kate Slack tallied seven blocks and is third in the Big West in total blocks (95).
Cal Poly will look to finish the season out strong against the bottom three teams in the conference with upcoming matchups against Cal State Northridge, Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton.
Due to the new season structure with the postseason tournament for the Big West, their 18-game season has now reached its halfway point.
As a result of the new schedule, Cal Poly only plays CSUN and Bakersfield one time this season and every other team twice. The Mustangs will not have the cushion record-wise to play two of the bottom three teams again, meaning that games against teams similar in record to them, such as Long Beach State and UC Davis prove even more imperative to win to get a higher seed in the tournament.
However, the Mustangs’ last four games are at home, which will be a good time to find their rhythm before playoffs. They are 2-1 so far at home.
The Mustangs currently reside in fourth place and trail Long Beach State in third place, who CSUN beat earlier this season.
The Mustangs play Cal State Bakersfield at the Mott Athletics Center on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m.