Cal Poly nearly fell to last place Big West team Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Oct. 28, but ultimately pulled out the win in five sets against CSU Fullerton, who are winless in conference play.
This game keeps the Mustangs in a comfortable fourth place with an 8-3 conference and a 14-9 overall record.
Although Fullerton took Cal Poly to five sets, large upsets are not too uncommon in the Big West. Also on Friday night, seventh-place UC Irvine beat the undefeated UC Santa Barbara. The 3-9 CSUN team beat the 9-2 Long Beach State earlier this season.
The Titans started off with a 25-23 win in the first set. The Mustangs took the second set 25-14. Both teams traded wins and losses until the fifth set.
The Mustangs dominated 15-6 in the fifth set and held onto their fourth-place spot in the Big West.
For Cal Poly, consistency will be key going into the next stretch of games. The team’s four reverse sweeps earlier this season prove that Cal Poly can get going when need to. However, to beat the teams ahead of them in the conference, they have to unlock that play-from-behind grit for all five sets.
Individually, many Mustangs performed well, displaying many season and career highs in this game.
Redshirt junior outside hitter Tommi Stockham did it all on both sides of the court. With a season-high 24 kills also hit the ball efficiently with a .400 hitting percentage. She tied her career-high 4 aces and reached 10 digs on the defensive.
The rest of the team also performed well from beyond the service line. Sixteen aces set a team-high this season and was the most by Cal Poly since 2001. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Lizzy Markovska led the team with a career-high six aces, also achieving a career-high 18 kills.
Redshirt sophomore opposite hitter Annabelle Thalken hit an efficient .379 with 11 digs and a career-high 15 kills. Redshirt sophomore setter Emme Bullis also tallied a double-double with a season-high 50 assists and 13 digs.
Last time against UC Irvine, Cal Poly won at home in a reverse sweep. The Mustangs head on the road to play the Anteaters at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, who defeated No. 25 Santa Barbara in their last game.