Cal Poly Volleyball completed their eighth straight sweep against a Big West opponent with a 3-0 victory (25-14, 25-21, 25-15) at Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 27.
The victory marked the 11th successive win over the Titans as the Mustangs advance toward their goal of a third consecutive Big West Conference Championship. Junior outside hitter Maia Dvoracek dominated the match with 15 kills, and fellow teammate and senior libero Mika Dickson led the team with 14 digs.
In the first set, the Mustangs surged ahead as a lack of communication and multiple hitting violations quickly set the Titans back 6-1. The Mustangs continued to control the match and amassed an 11-1 run before finishing out their first set 25-14.
The second set started off with the Mustangs in the lead once again, but the Titans made adjustments to their game and responded to the Mustangs’ momentum. The two teams traded points until the set was tied at 17-17. However, Cal Poly pulled ahead with a 5-1 run and won the set 25-21.
The Mustangs again started ahead in the third set and jumped to an 11-5 advantage before the Titans answered with a few points of their own to maintain the gap at 15-10. However, the Mustangs eventually broke away with a 6-2 run and secured the sweep over the Titans with a score of 25-15.
With their dominant performance, the Mustangs not only totaled twice as many kills (53) than the Titans (25), but registered 111 attacks as well. Cal Poly also out-hit the Titans .342 to .152. In the win, sophomore setter Avalon DeNecochea registered a match-high 45 assists while junior Madilyn Mercer and senior outside hitter Jessica McRoskey both reached a season-high in kills.
The Mustangs will be on the road again to play at UC Irvine on Saturday, Sept. 28. The match will begin at 7 p.m.