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What 2 Watch 4
League-leaders and 2026 Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship host Cal Poly (16-6, 12-0 BW) keeps on winning and eyes the first berth in the six-team postseason conference event this week as it hosts second-place Long Beach State (18-4, 10-2 BW) and Cal State Fullerton (2-10, 7-18 BW) at the Mott Athletics Center. With a dozen consecutive victories, the Mustangs sport the 10th longest winning streak nationally and stand as one of a baker’s dozen currently unscathed in conference action across the country.
The Beach enter the weekend with wins in their last six matches in first control of second in the standings, two games back from Cal Poly and two games up from third-place UC Santa Barbara (12-11, 8-4 BW). After Friday’s match in San Luis Obispo, LBSU heads down the central coast to take on the Gauchos for a Saturday evening affair. The first meetings of the season between the couplet came on Oct. 9-10 when the Beach bested UCSB 3-1 at LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid before dropping a three-setter to the Mustangs the following day.
Knotted in fourth in the standings are Sacramento State (12-11, 7-5 BW) and UC Irvine (9-14, 7-5 BW) and the Hornets and Anteaters are slated for a standoff in the Capitol city on Thursday to open the weekend. Sacramento State took the 3-1 win between the two in Southern California back on Oct. 10.
A three-way tie remains at an even 6-6 in Big West play for what would be the sixth and final spot in the Championship field with three weekends of the regular-season remaining. Cal State Bakersfield, UC San Diego and Utah Valley occupy the line, with the Tritons and Wolverines tangling on Thursday in Orem to break the tie. The first meeting of the season went the way of UCSD in sweeping fashion.
All 12 matches are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for specific match information. Check listings for specific match information.
The Big West in the National Rankings
• Long Beach State currently leads the league in the national RPI raking report for Nov. 11, rising two spots to No. 66 in adjusted RPI with Cal Poly jumping up eight position to 80th in the latest listings.
• Big West unbeaten Cal Poly is holding firm at sixth in the NCAA Division 1 national statistical rankings in hitting percentage, swinging at a rate of at 0.290. The Big West’s best is only one of three teams from a non-Power 4 conference to land in the Top 15 (Western Kentucky - CUSA - .291; Southeast Missouri State - OVC - .277).
• Five players find themselves in the national Top 25 in various statistical categories. Highlighting the lists is Cal Poly’s Breklyn Pulling who ranks 14th in hitting percentage at .424 and Long Beach State setter Madi Maxwell has a trio of triple doubles to rate fourth in NCAA Division I.
• Two team and five individual match performances rate in the top five in the country thus far. The 25-kill performance in a three-set match for Julia Bazylevych of CSUN in the sweep of Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 10 ties for tops the nation, as does Okolo’s 14.0 blocks for the Matadors in a five-setter against Denver on Aug. 29.
Last Week, Today
Four Big West teams took two wins, with Cal Poly running the streak to a dozen and Long Beach State to half of that mark. Four others split the weekend to close out
Cal Poly (16-6, 12-0 BW)
The Mustangs reached a dozen straight with road wins at UC Irvine and UC San Diego with big numbers across the board. Senior Emma Fredrick averaged 5.00 kills and 2.71 digs per set, highlighted by 18 strikes on .378 hitting in the sweep of the Tritons. Back in the rotation after missing last week, Big West Defensive Player of the Week Chloe Leluge shut down the UCSD attack with nine blocks, the best single-match blocking performance by a Mustang this season and one shy of tying a career high. Setter of the Week Alexis Haury dished out an average of 11.57 helpers and 3.00 digs per set while adding five kills and four blocks on the weekend. The Mustangs offense continues to hold strong to the sixth-best hitting percentage in the country at .290.
UC Santa Barbara (12-11, 8-4 BW)
The Gauchos got a pair of big road wins against UC San Diego and UC Irvine with Big West Offensive Player of the Week Gabi Martinez carrying the load. The sophomore averaged 5.57 kills and 6.36 points per set, highlighted by a 20 kill outing with three aces and eight digs in a Halloween sweep of the Anteaters. Martinez hit .293 in both matches with 39 kills over seven sets played. Defensively, Cortni Youngblood popped up 30 total digs to averaged 4.29 per set while assisting on 2.43 scoring plays per frame to move UCSB into sole possession of third in the standings.
Long Beach State (18-4, 10-2 BW)
The Beach defense was in full display over the week as the squad ran the winning streak to six and the sweep streak to five with victorious efforts over Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN. LBSU opponents have now hit under .100 in the last four matches. Freshman Kyler Birkelbach averaged 1.17 blocks per set with five kills in each match and junior Pola Bujnarowska averaged 1.33 blocks per set with three against the `Runners and five against the Matadors. Bujnarowska also added seven kills on .462 hitting versus CSUN. Setter Madi Maxwell posted a 14-assist, 11-dig double-double with seven kills four blocks and an ace in the Halloween takedown of CSUN to cap the weekend.
Sacramento State (12-11, 7-5 BW)
The Hornets’ road trip to the Inland Empire resulted in a pair of sweeps of their Riverside foes. Makenna Wiepert set a Sacramento State offense tat hit .315 as the junior averaged 10.83 assists and 3.00 digs per set with a pair of blocks in both wins. Victoria Marthaler posted match highs of 15 and 13 kills, respectively, while hitting .328 to average 4.67 kills per set. Skyler Gartin was key in the defense that limited their opponents to hit 0.067 with five blocks in both matches to average 1.67 per set.
Cal State Fullerton (7-18, 2-10 BW)
The TItans got a weekend split with Big West Rookie of the Week Sofia Shine powering the offense. In a 3-2 win against CSUN Shine put down 16 kills on .400 hitting with four digs. She followed it up with a career-high 25 on a .345 clip with five blocks in the five-setter against Cal State Bakersfield.
Additional Standouts
• Cal State Bakersfield’s Analiese Gagliano averaged 4.00 digs per set on the back row for the `Runners in a weekend split, popping up 20 in a thrilling five-set road victory at Cal State Fullerton.
• Evalyn Medaris showcased all-around play throughout the split weekend averaging 8.88 assists, 2.25 digs, 1.13 kills, 1.50 blocks and 2.00 points per set for Utah Valley. In the Halloween road sweep at UC Riverside, Medaris registered 30 assists with seven blocks, nine digs and four kills while hitting .500. Libero Lani Toutai averaged 3.38 digs per set with a weekend high of 15 against the Highlanders.
Non-Conference Notables
• Long Beach State clocked in at No. 35 on the toughest schedule listings in the non-conference segment at 0.615, leading The Big West. The Beach entered league play at 8-2 and on an eight-game winning streak after dropping their first two contests of the year to UCLA.
• Cal Poly opened the season seeing themselves in the listings of four straight AVCA polls including the preseason iteration, receiving votes in each after a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 as the last unseeded team standing in 2025.
• The Big West got Big Wins over three Big 12 opponents, two of which game on the road. UC Santa Barbara swept through RV Arizona on their home floor on Aug. 30. Then, Sacramento State took down Texas Tech in three on Sept. 4 at home. Finally, Long Beach State pulled off a five-set victory at RV Utah on Sept. 5 to round out the Power-4 wins in the non-conference segment.
Welcome to The Big West
New teams and coaches enter the league in 2026 as California Baptist, Sacramento State and Utah Valley bump the membership to 12 institutions this season. Including these three on the sidelines and three incoming head coaches, half of the league’s leaders will be new.
Defending WAC champion and NCAA participant Utah Valley is under the direction of Sam Atoa, entering a 23rd season at the helm and sporting a 380-292 (.565) overall record. Atoa is the program’s only head coach, including prior to Division I membership from 2003-08.
Entering a second season at the helm of his alma mater, Trevor Johnson holds a 7-18 overall record as the coach at California Baptist and 157-100 career head coaching record in nine seasons.
The Hornets head coach for the last 17 seasons has been Ruben Volta, who stands at 299-259 (.536) as the program’s second-ever leader. Volta is a 1993 alumnus of Sacramento State.
Additionally, UC Santa Barbara will be under the direction of Michael Henchy, who comes to the Gauchos after time on the sideline as assistant coach at Penn State where he was part of the staff of the 2024 national champion squad.
UC San Diego will be guided by first-year head coach Spencer McLaughlin, who comes to La Jolla after a successful two-year stint as the associate head coach at Southern California.
Cal State Bakersfield rounds out the fresh faces on the sidelines with Kristen Wright taking the helm in Bakersfield, returning to her hometown after eight seasons at North Florida.
Preseason Prognostications
Cal Poly, defending Big West champion and NCAA regional participant from a year ago, was slated to reign supreme with 11 first-place votes in the 2026 Big West Women’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll and three returners and the Preseason Coaches’ Team.
The Mustangs earned every possible nod and the highest points available after the Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 accumulating 121 points from the league’s 12 head coaches. Looking to expand on their 27-8 overall record and 14-4 mark in Big West action from a season ago, the depth of the seasoned Cal Poly squad was showcased by three on the preseason team, with Kendall Beshear, Emma Fredrick and Chloe Leluge each taking honors.
Second in the polling with 109 total points was Long Beach State (22-9, 14-4 BW in 2025). UC Santa Barbara (23-9, 14-4 BW in 2025) came in third in the voting, pulling in 99 total points. Newcomer to the conference and 2025 WAC champion Utah Valley (16-11, 10-2 WAC in 2025) accumulated 84 total points and the final first-place vote to rank fourth in the poll.
Additional preseason team honors went to Molly McCluskey (UC San Diego), Victoria Marthaler (Sacramento State), Gabi Martinez (UC Santa Barbara) and Madi Maxwell (Long Beach State). Read more >>>
Last Year, Today - By the Numbers
• Four Big West teams closed the season with at least 20 wins, and that number grows to five when including incoming member Sacramento State.
• Four Big West teams finished in the Top 100 in the adjusted RPI rankings, led by Big West automatic qualifier and NCAA Sweet 16 team Cal Poly (42), regular-season champion UC Davis (49), UC Santa Barbara (51) and Long Beach State (77).
• Cal Poly finished the season with an unblemished 15-0 record on their home floor at Mott Athletics Center, and currently sport a 19-match home winning streak. The string is good for the third-longest home streak in the country, only bested by Pittsburgh (51 games) and Kentucky (22 games).
• Cal Poly was the first unseeded team to advance to the third round in the NCAA Championship bracket since the seeding format changed in 2022, and the first Big West team to earn a spot in the regionals since 2019.
• In its final season in The Big West, Hawai’i averaged 5,804 fans per contest with 17 home games, good for third in the country and only trailing Nebraska and Wisconsin for average attendance figures.
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