Last year, Cal Poly Volleyball won all three of its matches in the SLO Classic.
This year was a complete 180° for the Mustangs (4-6) as they were swept, losing all three SLO Classic matches.
The Mustangs closed out their preseason by falling 3-1 against No. 8 Stanford in the final game of the SLO Classic.
Despite the three losses, the team is going into conference play with confidence.
“I’m so happy with so many performances and excited that we have so many different tools that we can use at different times,” Head Coach Caroline Walters said. “That’s what preseason is for: learning about ourselves, and I think we did just that and we’ve got a lot of exciting things ahead.”
Continuing the 6-2 System
In Saturday’s match against Arizona State University, Walters switched to a 6-2 system during the second set. She then carried the same system into the game against the Cardinal (7-3).
“We’re hitting .368 percent and that’s pretty insane against a team that is that physical so I think we’ve shown in the last few nights that it’s [6-2 system] absolutely something we have to explore,” Walters said.
A key player in Cal Poly’s offensive success was junior outside hitter Kendall Beshear as she recorded 14 kills with just one error and a .542 hitting percentage.
She was closely followed by senior outside hitter Emma Fredrick who had 14 kills and sophomore middle blocker Charlotte Kelly, who notched 12 kills with a hitting percentage of .632 and zero errors.
“I told the group that we’ve explored a lot of different options this preseason and let’s keep exploring so we can have our best group ready for the end of November to compete for a Big West Championship and then head into the NCAA Tournament with this group that is ready to go,” Walters said.
Cardinal Clinch the Victory
Despite Cal Poly’s offensive production and beating the Cardinal in kills, Stanford’s hitting was more effective as they earned an overall hitting percentage of .414.
Stanford’s lead hitter, Jordyn Harvey, logged 21 kills, seven more than Beshear and Fredrick, who spearheaded the Mustangs’ offense.
“I think we executionally started the match pretty well on both the offensive and defensive sides, but I think as you start getting into the middle and playing with them [Stanford] we’re processing so much and I don’t know that we’re truly competing in the moment,” Walters said.
Similar to the offense, Cal Poly notched more digs than Stanford but was unable to match their blocks and had difficulty responding to serves as the Cardinal had nine aces total.
While the Mustangs stayed competitive throughout the entire match, keeping every set within five points, the Cardinal secured the win as they closed out the fourth set 25-20.
Instead of focusing on the losses, the Mustangs are looking toward the regular season and hoping to see continued support.
“The fans mean so much to us,” Walters said. “Hopefully we can keep creating some excitement with our level of play and get that seventh man ready to go.”
Cal Poly kicks off Big West conference play against Cal State Bakersfield on Sep. 25 at 6 p.m. in Mott Athletics Center.