Cal Poly Volleyball’s season came to an end Friday, Nov. 24 as the Mustangs fell to Hawai’i in a sweep. Tying for third place in the Big West championship with UCSB, the Mustangs finished 21-11 overall and will not likely qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Hawai’i advances to the finals and will play the host Long Beach State on Saturday, Nov 25 for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Redshirt sophomore Lizzy Markovska along with redshirt junior outside hitter Amy Hiatt returned to the starting lineup. Markovska entered the front row for the first time since her ankle injury and led the team with 12 kills.
“To be able to play front row again was amazing and I came back even hungrier than I was before,” Markovska said. “While not being able to go front row, I was able to learn more about the game and come in and just see the game better.”
Despite the Cal Poly offense hitting .229 in the game, Hawai’i played practically flawless on offense, collecting 53 kills total on a .297 hitting percentage.
The Rainbow Warriors distributed the ball evenly across their offense, making it tough for Cal Poly’s middles to anticipate. On multiple occasions could only get a single blocker up against the Rainbow Warriors’ hitting a slide moving to her right or when the team set their outside.
“It’s tough when you’re scouting and you’re showing your girls that to beat them we have to stop their All-American and then they’re skipping her and setting balls away.”
The Mustangs hung behind Hawai’i throughout the first set, but couldn’t string together points to establish momentum to take the lead.
The Cal Poly defense struggled severely. The Hawaii offense hit around the blockers well, gaining 19 kills and beating the Mustangs 25-17.
Similar struggles plagued the Mustangs in the second set. The Rainbow Wahine and Mustangs bounced back and forth between points with the score 9-9. However, the Rainbow Wahine offense started to dominate, scoring five points in a row from three kills and two service aces.
Hawaii’s offense couldn’t be stopped, capitalizing on 39.5% of their hits in the second set and winning 25-18.
The Mustangs’ third set magic seemed to return, holding a 20-17 lead. However, redshirt junior outside hitter Amy Hiatt, who had often played in the middle this year and played a pivotal role in their reverse sweep against Davis, exited the game with an elbow injury when the Mustangs led 22-21.
According to Walters, Hiatt has played every position throughout her career at Cal Poly, and this season she mainly stuck in the middle.
“I [was] just blown away by what Amy was doing in the middle but she has those skills as an outside hitter, so not surprised by her ability to take balls, [and] I thought she served really well,” Walters said.
The Mustangs held set point over the Rainbow Wahine 24-23, but three straight kills by the Hawai’i offense allowed them to swipe the set as “Let’s go ‘Bows” chants took over the pyramid.
Although their season is over, the Mustangs will return much of the same team next season, as every player on the roster has at least one year of eligibility left.
However, redshirt junior libero Jolei Akima, who acted as an anchor for the team mentally alongside being their leading defender, plans to graduate and leave Cal Poly.
“She is unconditional in her approach to our group every day and it could be the worst day of her life and none of us would know it,” Walters said. “She’s just really good about coming in and doing her job and doing it at a high level, so we will miss Jolei as a volleyball player, as a person and as a teammate.”
The Mustangs finish the season with a 21-11 record and a 14-4 Big West record.