The Big West will be part of the robust men’s soccer and women's volleyball linear broadcasting coverage on the ESPN family networks. On Saturday, Oct. 5, Long Beach State women’s volleyball hosts Hawai’i at Walter Pyramid. First serve on ESPNU is slated for 7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT. The following day on Sunday, Oct. 6, UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer welcomes Cal Poly to Harder Stadium. Kickoff for the ESPNU broadcast is scheduled for 4 p.m. PT.
 
The last time Hawai‘i and Long Beach State faced each other was in last year’s Big West Championship title match in front of a crowd of 2,237 fans inside the Walter Pyramid, the highest 2023 Division I women's volleyball conference championship final match attendance in the nation.  The second-seeded Rainbow Wahine captured the conference’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive time with a sweep of the fourth-seeded Beach, 26-24, 25-15, 25-10. The two programs have a combined six NCAA Championship, three each, with Hawai‘i earning the crown in 1982, 1983 and 1987 and Long Beach State on top in 1989, 1993 and 1998.
 
Long Beach State will be under new leadership with interim head coach Natalie Reagan inheriting a team that finished last season with a 21-10 overall record and fourth in the league standings at 13-5. The Beach return four All-Big West performers in redshirt junior setter Zayna Meyer, senior outside hitter Elise Agi, senior middle blocker Kameron Bacon and senior outside hitter Natalie Glenn. Meyer was the 2023 Big West Setter of the Year and earned AVCA All-Pacific South Region Honorable Mention.
 
Hawai‘i finished 2023 with a 24-9 overall record and tied for second in the conference standings with a 14-4 league mark, led by eighth-year head coach Robyn Ah Mow. Coming back to the TeraFlex for the Rainbow Wahine are senior setter Kate Lang, a three-time All-Big West selection, and junior outside hitter Caylen Alexander, a two-time All-Big West honoree and the 2019 Freshman of the Year.
 
Heralded as "The Greatest Rivalry in College Soccer", the UC Santa Barbara-Cal Poly matchup has produced five of the top 10, and 17 of the top 25, largest regular season crowds in NCAA men's soccer history. The two schools play each other twice per season and will meet earlier in a non-conference game on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Mustangs' last win in the rivalry came in 2018, with the Gauchos holding a 7-1-2 record in the matchup during that time.
 
Second-year Cal Poly head coach Oige Kennedy will look to build on a successful inaugural campaign that saw the Mustangs with a 5-8-4 overall record and tied for fifth in The Big West with a 3-3-3 league mark. Returning for Cal Poly are a pair of All-Big West forwards in senior Jackson Kestler and junior Luke Schaefer.
 
UC Santa Barbara, under the guidance of 24th-year head coach Tim Vom Steeg, finished last season at 10-8-2 overall and third in the league table with a 4-3-2 conference record. The Gauchos bring back four all-conference players in senior forward Alexis Ledoux, senior midfielder Mikel Goeling, senior defender Caden Vom Steeg and senior midfielder Nemo Philipp.

More than 350 fall broadcasts, including over 75 men’s soccer and 125 women’s volleyball, across The Big West landscape will also be available to fans through ESPN+. Click here for upcoming listings to watch all 11 Big West member-institutions in action.