With a tight race to the top of the tally and four teams recording first-place votes, the Cal Poly Mustangs have been picked to claim the Big West crown, according to the league’s 11 head coaches. 

The Mustangs recorded 94 total points and five first-place votes in the 2024 Big West Women’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll to sail to the top of the standings, nine points clear of closest competitor and 2023 Big West Championship victor, Hawai’i.  

Cal Poly retains five starters from the 2023 season and over 90 percent of their production in kills, sets, and blocks highlighted Big West Preseason Coaches’ Team selection Tommi Stockham. The redshirt senior outside hitter averaged 3.2 kills and 2.25 digs per set a year ago to go along with a league-high 47 total kills. Stockham who is attempting to become just the second Mustang and 14th player in Big West history to make the Four-Time First Team list in 2024. A bevy of upperclassmen join Stockham back on the court in Kate Slack, Lizzy Markovska, Emme Bullis and Annabelle Thalken to name a few. The Mustangs are seeking a first Big West title since 2018. 

Second in the polling with 85 points and three first-place votes is the Rainbow Wahine, winners of the inaugural Big West Championship and NCAA participant in 30 consecutive seasons, since 1993. The ‘Bows have won four straight Big West titles, claiming the regular-season crown in 2019, ’21 and ’22 to go along with last season’s win as the No. 2 seed in The Big West bracket. Keeping the streak alive will hinge on how effective UH is in replacing four starters including Big West offensive leader Amber Igiede. 

Hawai’i owns two spots on the Preseason All-Big West team in setter Kate Lang and outside hitter Caylen Alexander. Lang, the 2022 Big West Setter of the Year, led The Big West with 1,182 total assists, or 10.46 per set in 2023. As a team, UH finished 12th in the national rankings a year ago with a 13.07 assists per set average. Now in a third campaign for the Rainbow Wahine, The 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year, Alexender is coming off a sophomore season where the Alpharetta, Ga., native posted 319 Kills, or 3.10 per set, to go along with 25 aces, 226 digs, and 50.0 total blocks.  

Just two points behind UH in the final tally is 2023 runners-up Long Beach State, clocking 83 points and two first-place votes. LBSU will be under the direction of first-time NCAA Division I head coach Natalie Reagan. On the bench as assistant in 2023, Reagan previously led Harvard-Westlake to the California State Championship and has experience assisting at LMU, Nebraska and alma mater Oregon State. 

The Beach team also boasts two preseason picks in 2023 Setter of the Year Zayna Meyer and senior Natalie Glenn. Meyer directed LBSU to a conference-best .244 hitting percentage while averaging 9.99 assists per set. In a second season with the Beach, Glenn hit .299 from the outside and served up 37 total aces while denying 51 attack attempts at the net. Glenn’s 0.45 ace average paced The Big West, and propelled the Beach to the top of the team rankings in the category as well with 1.72 aces per set.  

Defending regular-season victor and NCAA participant UC Santa Barbara comes in fourth in the polling with 75 total points and the final first-place nod. The Gauchos graduated a key group of seniors that included back-to-back Big West Libero of the Year Macall Peed. Now, UCSB looks to rebuild with some pieces from last season as well as some key freshmen and an impactful transfer while needing to replace the services of 2023 Big West Player of the Year Michelle Ohwobete.   

UC San Diego is slotted in fifth with 63 points and is followed in the polling by UC Irvine (60 points). 

For the Tritons, the 2024-25 season marks the first year as a fully-eligible NCAA Division I after the transition from Division II, so UCSD is looking to make a first Division I postseason in 2024 with new head coach Melanie Greene at the helm. Before being tapped to head the Tritons, the San Diego native had been involved in the San Diego State program – both as a coach and as a student-athlete – since 2004.  

On the court, the squad is highlighted by senior outside hitter Ava McInnes, who earned selection to the preseason team. McInnes enters a fourth year on the court for the Tritons with 1,201 career kills after compiling averages of 3.69 kills and 4.39 points per set on .253 hitting in 2023. 

Should the preseason prognostications ring true, the Anteaters will claim the sixth and final spot in the inaugural 2024 Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship, set for Nov. 27-30 from UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center. The Top six teams in the regular-season standings will compete for The Big West’s automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship. 

Following UCI in the polling is UC Davis with 49 points and Big West Preseason Coaches’ Team selection in senior opposite hitter Olivia Utterback, making a second preseason team appearance. Utterback averaged 2.93 kills per set while serving up 42 total aces in 2023 and looks to lead the Aggies back to The Big West postseason for consecutive seasons after claiming the No. 6 seed last season.  

Cal State Bakersfield (35 points), CSUN (21) and the pairing of Cal State Fullerton (20) and UC Riverside (20) round out the preseason prognostications for 2024.  

Fans can get ready for the season in the 2024 Big West Women’s Volleyball Preview presented by The Hawaiian Islands on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Noon PT/9 a.m. HT on ESPN+. Marking the first preseason women’s volleyball show for the league, tune in to in-depth analysis from the tandem of Chloe Clark and Rob Espero, who take you through each team’s schedule and provide insights into each program through interviews with all 11 head coaches across the league. 

First serve across The Big West is set for Friday, Aug. 30, with 10 teams in action and Long Beach State joining the fray on Saturday, Aug. 31. Big West play on courts across the conference is set to start on Tuesday, Sept. 24, and Long Beach State and Hawai’i face off in a nationally-televised contest on Oct. 5, airing on ESPNU. 

All told, over 125 women’s volleyball broadcasts across The Big West landscape will also be available to fans through ESPN+ throughout the year. Click here for upcoming listings to watch all 11 Big West member-institutions in action. 

- First-place votes in parentheses
 

2024 Big West Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Caylen Alexander	Junior	Outside Hitter	Hawai'i	Alpharetta, Ga.
Natalie Glenn	Senior	Outside Hitter	Long Beach State	Southlake, Texas
Kate Lang	Senior	Setter	Hawai'i	Keller, Texas
Ava McInnes	Senior	Outside Hitter	UC San Diego	Tustin, Calif.
Zayna Meyer	Redshirt Junior	Setter	Long Beach State	Wheaton, Ill.
Tommi Stockham	Redshirt Senior	Outside Hitter	Cal Poly	Las Vgas, Nev.
Olivia Utterback	Senior	Opposite Hitter	UC Davis	Plainfield, Ill.