Cal Poly Volleyball has won its first Big West regular season title since 2018, with two tight road victories against UC Riverside on Thursday and UC Davis on Saturday.
The Mustangs (21-8, 14-4 Big West) defeated the Highlanders (10-21, 5-13 Big West) and the Aggies (18-9, 13-5 Big West) as they closed out their Big West slate on a six-match winning streak.
Highlanders almost play spoiler
UC Riverside entered Thursday’s contest on a 17-match losing streak against Cal Poly that dates back to 2017.
Add in their record this season; one might have written this game off as a Mustang win before opening serve.
To start, Riverside ripped off a 6-1 run to tie the opening set before taking the set 25-23.
The Mustangs’ next two sets were smooth sailing. The second set was a 25-13 drubbing, while the third was a 25-18 win.
But Riverside refused to stay down, opening the fourth set with a 5-1 start and never looking back. The Highlanders took the set 25-18 to force a tiebreaker.
The fifth set was a nailbiter. UC Riverside took the lead at 9-8, but the Mustangs leaped ahead with a 6-1 run and won 15-13.
Senior outside hitter Tommi Stockham led the team with 17 kills, with redshirt sophomore middle blocker Breklyn Pulling pouring in 16.
Freshman Elif Hurriyet had over 20 digs for the fifth time this season. Overall, the Mustangs had five players end with double-digit digs.
The win against UC Riverside put Cal Poly in a temporary tie with UC Davis, pending the latter’s match with Hawaii the next day.
For all the marbles against Aggies
UC Davis defeated Hawaii in their match right before playing the Mustangs, which meant the winner of UC Davis-Cal Poly would win the Big West crown.
UC Davis, along with Hawaii and UC San Diego, was one of three Big West teams to beat the Mustangs during the regular season.
It looked like the match would be tightly contested, with Cal Poly holding a steady lead early in the first set. UC Davis went on a 6-1 run and never looked back, taking a tight first set 25-22.
The second set was mainly Mustangs. UC Davis had an 18-12 lead before Cal Poly almost tied the set. Cal Poly regrouped and closed the set out 25-19 on the back of a 6-1 run.
It was UC Davis’ turn to control a very similar set to the last one.
The Aggies jumped out to a 16-9 before Cal Poly started to claw back. It was too little too late, however, and UC Davis won 25-20, bringing them just one set away from the Big West title.
With their backs against the wall, Cal Poly ambushed UC Davis to the tune of an 18-10 lead.
Davis offered little resistance on the way to a 25-17 set win and forcing their second tie-breaker of the week.
They took advantage of momentum entirely on the side of the Mustangs with a six-point run to start the final set. They never let UC Davis recover and cruised to a 15-7 set win and the Big West title.
Redshirt junior setter Emme Bullis had 45 assists, and Stockham led the team yet again with 15 kills. Freshman middle blocker Chloe Leluge had 13 kills, which was her season high.
The Mustangs get to enjoy a bye in the Big West tournament before facing the winner of the No. 4 versus No. 5 seed game, playing them Friday, Nov 29. in Irvine at 3 p.m.
