Less than three weeks after finishing their historic NCAA Tournament run, Cal Poly Volleyball lost one of their biggest contributors from the 2025 season.
On Dec. 29, the Mustangs announced Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Jason Borchin was departing after nine seasons with the team. This left the question, who would replace the longtime coach?
Not long after, the team had their answer. On Feb. 23, they announced the hiring of Sam Crosson, Cal Poly Volleyball’s head coach from 2012-2018, to fill the position.
Borchin’s departure stemmed from his acceptance of the head coaching position at University of Nevada Volleyball, but that was not the only surprise for the Mustangs. On Jan. 14, graduating senior and star setter Emme Bullis decided she would be joining Borchin in Nevada as an assistant coach.
Crosson’s Return
On the heels of their NCAA tournament run, Head Coach Caroline Walters was given a massive task searching for the right candidate to fill Borchin’s shoes. While she was already in the process of interviewing candidates, she received a text from Crosson.
“He texted me and said, ‘Hey I would love to chat about your opening,’ and I couldn’t believe it,” Walters said.
Prior to his new position with Cal Poly Volleyball, Crosson was the head coach of the UC Berkeley volleyball team from 2019-2022. He then became the head coach of both West Valley College’s indoor and beach volleyball teams from 2023-2025.
Walters has been with Cal Poly Volleyball for 17 years and worked under Crosson throughout his years as head coach.
In Crosson’s time with the Mustangs, he helped guide the team through seven seasons and compiled a 114-83 record. He coached the 2017 season, when the team earned its first undefeated Big West record in program history and made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade. Crosson’s history and knowledge of how Cal Poly’s program runs was a main selling point in Walters’ hiring decision.
“To not have to train or teach someone about what this place is, how we play volleyball, the kids that can come in here and succeed I feel like we’ve done the best job we could with hiring for this position,” Walters said.
Borchin also worked under Crosson from 2015-2017 as an assistant coach and credits parts of his coaching knowledge to Crosson’s leadership.
“Caroline and I both learned a lot about how to have a good, organized practice and flow, [recognizing] what we are really trying to get better at and seeing if things are really worth our time or should we invest it in other places,” Borchin said.
Borchin acted as a coach for the Mustangs but also completed most of the team’s player recruitment and team scouts. In various press conferences, Walters has expressed that Borchin’s game scouts are pivotal to the team’s success.
With Borchin’s departure, he sees Crosson as a good fit for the role.
“He’s going to be great, and I know he’s eager to get back on the recruiting trail,” Borchin said.
What Borchin brought to Cal Poly
In his nine-year tenure with Cal Poly, Borchin served as the assistant coach from 2015-2017 before accepting a position at Notre Dame in 2018. After his year of coaching the Fighting Irish, he returned to Cal Poly as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator until he was promoted to associate head coach in 2025.
“When we were in season and scouting, it’s an everyday thing of preparing for two matches over the weekend and recruiting takes a little bit of a backseat,” Borchin said. “That flips in the offseason when recruiting is kind of the main thing.”
While Borchin helped recruit players within the United States, he also had an international reach. Sophomore libero Elif Hurriyet explained on The Gallop podcast that recruitment was a challenge for her due to late decisions and being from Türkiye. Hurriyet’s consultant had a distant connection with Borchin, who helped guide her to Cal Poly.
Aside from recruitment, Borchin helped lead the team to victory in 2017 and was also a pivotal role in the team’s success throughout the 2025 season. His time at Cal Poly helped prepare him for his new head coach position.
“I’ve done so many different things at Cal Poly that will really align with what I need to do on my own to build a program from the ground up in Nevada,” Borchin said.
Borchin not only gained experience at Cal Poly, but he also gained a colleague. Just a month after his head coaching announcement, Nevada Volleyball announced that Bullis would serve as an assistant coach under Borchin.
From Player to Coach
After redshirting her freshman year, Bullis went on to be the starting setter her next four years at Cal Poly. In her final season, she became the fourth Mustang in history to reach 4,000 career assists.
From the start of her first year with Cal Poly Volleyball, Borchin and Walters told her she would make a great coach, yet that was not the path she thought she would take.
“Throughout my whole college career I talked with Jason and Caroline a lot and I knew it was something I would love but it was the last thing I wanted to do,” Bullis said. “It would be so much time away from my family.”
That all changed in her last months as a Mustang as Bullis decided between pursuing her teaching credential or coaching. Eventually, the latter reigned victorious.
Once she had decided on her path, she was looking through her options. She weighed whether she wanted to become a full-time assistant, part-time assistant or pursue graduate school and be a graduate assistant for a program. Once Borchin gave her the call, her decision had been made.
“I was so familiar with Jason and thoroughly believe in all of his philosophies of teaching volleyball and also just being a good person,” Bullis said. “So, when Jason called me, I was like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s do it.’”
The future of Cal Poly Volleyball
Crosson officially started his associate head coach position in February.
“I’m really happy to have someone that I can fully trust and that I know loves me, loves this place and wants to see us continue to have the success we’ve had,” Walters said.
Walters already has her eyes on next season. After being in the Big West Championship match for two years in a row, Walters is looking to go back with a new staff. With the help of her staff and team, she is confident it can happen again.
“It gives me so much confidence in putting our best foot forward and continuing to build this program into a long-lasting mid-major powerhouse,” Walters said.
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.