During a Cal Poly Volleyball practice, the slap of the ball, squeaky shoes and the cheers from supportive teammates are common sounds.
“Katy, you’re the best at blocking back-row attacks,” junior middle blocker Chloe Leluge yelled as sophomore middle blocker Katy Foley successfully blocked an attempt.
Cal Poly has five middle blockers this season, more than usual for a typical roster.
Instead of causing friction, the athletes have built a bond that goes beyond the game and is rooted in support.
“It’s the most supportive position group, not only on the team, but that I have ever seen in my 18 years of coaching,” Head Coach Caroline Walters said.
The Middle Landscape
The position group includes four returners: senior Breklyn Pulling, sophomore Charlotte Kelly, Leluge, and Foley. Freshman Teagan Cooling is the lone newcomer.
Pulling, Leluge, and Kelly are the frontrunners in the position.
In 2024, Leluge and Pulling were the duo at the net. Leluge led the team in hitting percentage as a freshman at .356, and Pulling was named Cal Poly Female Newcomer of the Year and tied for the program record with eight single-game blocks.
However, the picture changed after Pulling tore her ACL and meniscus in summer practice, ruling her out for the entire 2025 season.
With this injury, Kelly and Leluge became the starting middle blockers for the 2025 season. Leluge earned All-Big West Second Team, and Kelly landed a spot on the Big West All-Freshman team.
This season, Pulling is back in the swing of things alongside Kelly and Leluge, making it a competitive yet supportive position group.
“We have three potential All-Big West First Team middles and only two of them can play on the court at once, so to be able to see the support they give one another is pretty remarkable and speaks a lot to who they are as people,” Walters said.
The talent, however, does not stop with those three players.
Foley played as a right side hitter throughout high school and was recruited by Cal Poly the summer after her senior year
The twist was Walters and the coaching staff called Foley, who was academically committed to Cal Poly but not athletically, three days before practice started. They asked Foley how quickly she could get to San Luis Obispo, explaining that the team needed another player and that they needed her to commit to the middle blocker position.
Foley accepted the offer, came in ready to learn a brand-new position with a smile on her face and raised the bar the coaches had set, Walters explained.
“I can put Katy Foley in a match and not bat an eye, and I think that’s a pretty cool thing to be able to say,” Walters said.
During her time at Cal Poly, Foley has experienced firsthand the support among the middle blockers.
“I’ve never been on a team where, in a position group, I have this much support behind me and truly doesn’t feel like we’re fighting for one position,” Foley said.
Support Through Injury
Alongside Pulling, Leluge and Cooling have also faced injuries over the past year and a half that have affected their playing abilities.
Leluge had two herniated discs in her back, while Cooling is almost 11 months post-operation after tearing her ACL halfway through her senior season of high school volleyball.
While all three players continue to recover, they lean on their fellow middle blockers for support.
“As soon as I came in, the middles especially were like, ‘We’re so happy to have you back,’ which is rare in a positional group to be so close,” Pulling said.
Cooling has experienced the same sense of encouragement in her early stages of getting back on the court.
“Even when I had just started hitting off two feet the other day, they were all like, ‘That was so good,’ and everyone just lifts each other up even when it’s the little things,” Cooling said.
Support Reflected in Coaching
While the middle blockers have a strong sense of support for one another, they aren’t each other’s only source.
The group echoed that the coaches mirror this support.
“It’s easy for the middles to have such support for each other when all our coaches are so positive themselves,” Pulling said.
Assistant coach Addie Picha is the primary middle-blocker coach. She is in her fourth season with the Mustangs and was a middle blocker at the University of San Diego where she was named a two-time AVCA All-American.
When Picha first joined the Cal Poly staff, she collaborated with Walters to help coach the position. Now, Walters has full trust in Picha’s coaching and lets her steer the position’s ship.
“Now it’s whatever Addie thinks is right for what [the middle blockers] need to work on…she has earned that through just how statistically amazing our middles have been since she’s been here,” Walters said.
Under Picha’s guidance, the team has had two middle blockers earn Cal Poly’s Female Newcomer of the Year: Pulling in 2024 and Kelly in 2025. She hopes to see this trend continue and even see Cal Poly climb the Big West leaderboard.
“I’d love to see one of our middles at the top of the leaderboard in hitting percentage and blocks per set in the conference,” Picha said. “That’s definitely something they can do.”
Kelly is one step closer to achieving Picha’s goal as she currently holds the No. 1 spot in the conference and No. 13 in the nation for hitting percentage at .431.
Beyond Picha’s coaching abilities, she aligns with the team’s attitude.
“I don’t think there’s another person in the NCAA that’s coaching that was a player not too long ago, a two-time All-American, and is also as kind and loving as she is,” Kelly said.
In the grand scheme of things, five athletes are contending for two starting positions. Yet, they use this fire to push one another as they each contribute to the team’s success.
“The way that these girls go about honing their craft yet celebrating the successes of the other people in their position…is something that we preach about wanting to do, but it is difficult,” Walters said. “But it is something that these guys do with grace and class, and they set a tremendous example for the rest of our team.”
Samantha Roach is a sports reporter for Mustang News and is employed by Cal Poly Athletics to create social media content for the volleyball team.