Cal Poly volleyball fell to the first-place University of Hawaii in a four-set contest (25-16, 12-25, 16-25, 23-25) on Friday, Nov. 18 inside the Stan Sheriff Center.
The loss officially ended the Mustangs’ (16-12, 13-5 Big West) chances of winning the Big West as they now sit four matches behind the Rainbow Wahine (19-6, 16-1 Big West) with two games left on the schedule.
The first set began tightly contested, starting out back-and-forth until an early 7-7 tie. Cal Poly then went on a 5-1 run for a 12-8 lead, and a 7-2 run later in the set gave the Mustangs the set win at 25-16.
Hawaii fought back in the second set, jumping out to a quick 11-2 scoreline. This set was dominated by the Rainbow Wahine, as they led by as much as 13 before taking the set 25-12.
In the third set, Cal Poly initially secured momentum with a 5-4 lead. However, Hawaii responded with a string of 14 consecutive points for a score of 18-5. The Mustangs answered with a run of their own to make it 19-12, however that would be as close as the score would get as Hawai’i remained in control and took the set 25-16.
In the fourth set, Cal Poly held an early edge of 7-1. The Mustangs continued to strengthen their margin further to 16-8. As the set continued, though, Hawaii would not be denied.
After the Mustangs led 18-12, the Rainbow Wahine rattled off three straight points to make it 18-15. A two-point response made it 20-15 before a seven-point run had Hawaii in control at 22-20. Cal Poly fought back to a 24-23 match point, but a Hawaii kill closed the set at 25-23 and a Rainbow Wahine match victory, 3-1.
Hawaii controlled the offensive side of things in the match, hitting .305 with 54 kills to Cal Poly’s .185 hitting percentage and 42 kills.
For the Mustangs, freshman libero London Haberfield led the team in digs with 13. On offense, sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham led the team with 11 kills and two aces, followed by senior right-side hitter Maia Dvoracek with nine kills and four aces.
With her four aces on the night, Dvoracek moved into fifth all-time in program history with 129 for her career. She has recorded 65 aces this season and is two away from breaking the program’s single-season record.
Cal Poly’s last two games will be at home as they take on UC Irvine on Friday, Nov. 25 and UC San Diego on Saturday, Nov. 26 inside Mott Athletics Center.