|
What 2 Watch 4
The top four teams in the standings continue to separate themselves from the pack as the race for the postseason heats up. League-leading UC Davis (17-5, 13-1 BW) is on the road at Long Beach State and UC San Diego with the Beach (17-8, 10-4 BW) on the precipice of clinching a spot in The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship. Cal Poly (21-5, 12-2 BW) open the week at UC Santa Barbara (18-8, 10-4 BW) with the Gauchos also eyeing a postseason berth. The Mustangs bring a 10-match winning streak into Santa Barbara before returning home to take on Hawai’i on Saturday where Cal Poly is an unbeaten 14-0 on the season.
The duo of LBSU and UCSB is three games clear of CSUN and Hawai’i, who stand at an even .500 in league play. The Matadors are at home to open the week against UC Irvine before hosting Cal State Fullerton, while the Rainbow Wahine draw the Mustantgs and Gauchos in the penultimate week of the season as the two battle to remain in the top six and secure a spot in the bracket.
All 11 matchups on this week’s docket are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for specific match information.
Postseason Picture
 • Two teams have punched their ticket to The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship, UC Davis and Cal Poly. The Aggies and Mustangs are guaranteed a top four placement in the standings with two weeks remaining.
• UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State are both edging closer to claiming a line in the brackets, needing one more win to make their Thanksgiving plans.
• Eight sides are mathematically in the mix for the final four spots in the bracket with the margin of error down to a hair for many with four league games to play.
The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship
All-session tickets are available now to watch some of the premier teams in the West compete for the league's automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball National Championship field. Make plans to join us at Walter Pyramid from Nov. 26-29 in Long Beach, and secure your seats today >>>
Last Week, Today
• Back-to-back Player of the Week honors went to UC Davis’ Jade Light (offensive) and UC Santa Barbara’s Gabi Martinez (freshman) with the Hawai’i tandem of Bri Gunderson (defensive) and Adrianna Arquette (setter) rounding out the weekly winners. Read more >>>
The Big West in the Rankings
• Cal Poly, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara all find themselves in the national Top 25 in various statistical categories, with the Aggies’ defense allowing opponents to hit a paltry 0.140 this season, which ranks fourth in Division 1.
• Two student-athletes dot the individual listings, both in the Top 25 in hitting percentage. UC Santa Barbara’s Layanna Green lands in 13th with a .424 percentage and Ally Chandler of UC Davis stands in 18th with a .416 hitting percentage for the current league leaders. Also in the rankings heading into the week is fellow Aggie Mia Starr, 22nd nationally in assists per set with 10.37.
• The top four teams in the league are all in the Top 100 nationally in the current RPI and KPI listings. UC Davis leads the way in RPI with an adjusted rank of 54, with Cal Poly’s KPI rank of 58 topping The Big West.
Weekly Roundup
UC Davis (17-5, 13-1 BW)
League-leading UC Davis continues to roll through conference play with road victories at UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton. The Aggies tied the program record for Big West wins in a season. Back-to-back Offensive Player of the Week Jade Light averaged a combined 4.43 kills and 3.86 digs per set, highlighted by a 13-kill, 20-dig double-double in the sweep of the Anteaters. Under the direction of junior Mia Starr, the setter assisted on 11.14 plays per set. Defensively, Ximena Cordero Barr popped up 5.71 digs per set with six service aces on the week. UC Davis became the first team to clinch their spot in the field of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship, where the Aggies are guaranteed a top-four seed in the bracket.
Cal Poly (21-5, 12-2 BW)
The Mustangs notched a pair of wins to extend their streak to 10, downing Long Beach State and UC San Diego at home. Sporting a mark of 14-0 at Mott this year, Cal Poly is one of 13 teams nationally to be undefeated in home matches. Annabelle Thalken led the offense with 31.4 kills per set on .462 hitting with just four errors on the efficient week (22-4-39). Avenging early-season road losses to both the Beach and Tritons, Chloe Leluge added 1.71 kills and 1.57 blocks per set including a seven-stuff effort against UCSD. Setter Emme Bullis became just the fourth Mustang to eclipse 4,000 career assists and the redshirt senior is seventh in the category in active NCAA Division 1 players.
Hawai’i (11-14, 7-7 BW)
The Rainbow Wahine held the home court against CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield to get up in the top six in the league standings with two weeks remaining on the schedule Big West Defensive Player of the Week Bri Gunderson was dominant on both sides of the ball, averaging 2.86 kills on .581 hitting while adding 13 total blocks on the week, including six in the sweep of the Matadors who also stand at 7-7 in league play. Setter of the Week Adrianna Arquette averaged 10.86 assists per set and put up a doube-double of 43 assists and 14 digs with four blocks and a pair of aces in the four-set win over the Roadrunners.
Additional Standouts
• Five teams saw a 1-1 record on the weekend: Cal State Fullerton (vs. UCR), CSUN (vs. CSUB), UC Irvine (vs. UCR), UC San Diego (at UCSB) and UC Santa Barbara (vs. LBSU).
• Big West Freshman of the Week Gabi Martinez of UC Santa Barbara earned consecutive honors after helping the Gauchos to a 3-1 win against Long Beach State with 18 kills and 12 digs.
• UC San Diego’s Molly McCluskey was the star for the Tritons in a road sweep of UC Santa Barbara, recording a team-high 13 kills on .375 hitting with eight digs in the program’s first win over the Gauchos.
• UC Irvine senior libero Campbell Jensen popped up 19 digs in Saturday’s sweep of the Highlanders with junior setter Nicole Feliciano dishing out 32 assists with 10 digs in the match.
POWERful
The Big West notched Power-4 wins over multiple foes this non-conference, including two over California (ACC) with Cal Poly and UC Davis taking down the Bears. UC Santa Barbara downed Kansas State from the Big 12 as the Mustangs swept through No. 20 Utah Big West teams also took two from the SEC with Cal Poly defeating Arkansas on the road and UC Santa Barbara taking care of Vanderbilt.
Non-Conference Kudos
The Big West finished non-conference action with an overall mark of 58-64 (.475) with five teams at or above .500 heading into league action. Of the 23 conferences played, The Big West sports even or winning records against 10 conferences, including the SEC (2-2), WCC (13-10) and Big Sky (11-8).
Welcome to The Big West
Three new head coaches to the league will be patrolling The Big West sidelines. Branden Higa comes to UC Riverside from crosstown rival and future Big West opponent California Baptist. A rebuilding Cal State Bakersfield side will feature co-interim head coaches in Felipe Nogueira and Cinthia Angus, both members of the Roadrunners’ 2024 staff. A new, but familiar, face will also be at the helm for Cal State Fullerton as program alumna and former assistant coach Nicky Cannon returns to the Titans.
Preseason Prognostications
The top two teams from a season ago are set atop the 2025 Big West Women’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll with a razor thin margin separating defending Championship victor Hawai’i and 2024 regular-season champion Cal Poly.
UH was picked to win the crown in their final season of full Big West membership, accumulating 94 total points and five first-place picks in a vote by the league’s 11 head coaches. Just two points behind and also garnering five first-place nods is Cal Poly at 92 total points, setting up the potential for another battle between the Mustangs and the Rainbow Wahine for The Big West’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship field.
The two teams have separated themselves from the next grouping in the standings by nearly 20 points and combine to see three players on the seven-person Big West Preseason Coaches’ Team in Emme Bullis, Chloe Leluge and Bri Gunderson. Read more >>>
|
|