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What 2 Watch 4
The top four teams in the standings have earned a spot in The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship, with two sides set to join them this week. After suffering just their second defeat in conference play, league-leading UC Davis (18-6, 14-2 BW) closes the regular season at home against CSUN (16-11, 9-7 BW) and Cal State Bakersfield with a potential berth to their first Big West postseason on the line for the Matadors. After closing their home slate an undefeated 15-0, second-place Cal Poly (22-6, 13-3 BW) is on the road at Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine with hopes of the regular-season title still in play. Knotted in third are UC Santa Barbara (20-8, 12-4 BW) and Long Beach State (19-8, 12-4 BW) with the Beach ending the regular season at Hawai’i (11-16, 7-9 BW) in what could be a pivotal match for the Rainbow Wahine. UH is knotted with UC Irvine (12-16, 7-9 BW) in the standings as the Anteaters face off against fearsome foes UCSB and Cal Poly looking to earn a place in the championship field.
Ten of the 11 matchups in the final week of the regular-season slate are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for specific match information.
Postseason Picture
 • Four teams have punched their ticket to The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship, UC Davis, Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara and host Long Beach State. Each of the guaranteed postseason participants will see themselves on one of the top four lines in the bracket, with every seed yet to be determined.
• Three squads - CSUN, UC Irvine and Hawai’i - in the mix for the final two spots in the bracket. The Matadors are guaranteed the berth with at least one win this weekend. For UCI and UH, their season’s hinge on the outcomes on the final two days of the regular season.
The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship
Single- and 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
• Player of the Week honors went to Long Beach State Logan King (offensive & freshman) and Madi Maxwell (setter) with the Campbell Jensen (defensive) 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 0.146 this season, which ranks sixth in Division 1.
• UC Santa Barbara’s Layanna Green dots the listings and lands in 12th in the NCAA Division I rankings with a .430 hitting percentage.
• The top four teams in the league are all in the Top 80 nationally in the current RPI and KPI listings. UC Davis leads the way in RPI with an adjusted rank of 57, with Cal Poly’s KPI rank of 59 topping The Big West.
Weekly Roundup
UC Santa Barbara (20-8, 12-4 BW)
The Gauchos recorded home wins over Cal Poly and Hawai’i to secure their spot in the bracket of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship. Gabi Martinez continues to power the offense with a career-high 19 kills in the five-set win over the Mustangs while adding 10 more with five aces in the sweep of the Rainbow Wahine. Running a 6-2 rotation, setter Michelle Zhao finished with a career -best 35 sets in the Blue-Green Rivalry and added 14 assists and 11 digs for the double-double against the ’Bows.
Long Beach State (19-8, 12-4 BW)
Big West Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week Logan King was a dominating force in wins over UC Riverside and UC Davis. King hit a combined .407 with 3.86 kills and 3.14 digs per set. Hitting .304 as a team, Big West Setter of the Week Madi Maxwell directed with offense with 10.29 assists per set. Maxwell was a standout in the contest against the Aggies as the Beach won in four to hand UC Davis their second conference loss of the season. Maxwell finished with 40 assists, 10 digs, seven kills and a trio of blocks in the win that guaranteed LBSU’s place in the postseason.
CSUN (16-11, 9-7 BW)
Hayley Ogden was instrumental in CSUN pulling off a reverse sweep over UC Irvine before capping the home season with a 3-0 win over Cal State Fullerton. Ogden put down 28 kills over eight sets while hitting .490 on 49 swings. The sophomore had a season-high 17 kills on .500 hitting against UCI before adding 11 kills on .474 against the Titans.
Additional Standouts
• Five teams saw a 1-1 record on the weekend, including league-leaders UC Davis and Cal Poly. Other squads to nab a win were Cal State Bakersfield. UC Irvine and UC Riverside.
• UC Davis suffered just their second league loss at Long Beach State before rebounding to dispatch UC San Diego. Jade Light put down 15 kills with 10 digs, a pair of solo blocks and two aces against the Tritons. The Aggies’ 14th conference win is a program record.
• Cal Poly saw a five-set setback against UC Santa Barbara to snap a streak of 10 straight wins before sweeping through Hawai’i to close the home slate a perfect 15-0. Setter Emme Bullis provided 29 assists with three kills, three blocks and an ace with freshman middle blocker Charlotte Kelly swinging for 10 kills on .412 hitting with six blocks against UH.
• Cal State Bakersfield claimed a sweep against Cal State Fullerton on Friday with Nicole Zake powering down 18 kills and Luiza da Cruz dishing out 35 assists with 13 digs against the Titans.
• Big West Defensive Player of the Week Campbell Jensen popped up 27 digs with six assists and Kendra Duffey added 12 kills, seven digs, a pair of blocks and two aces with in a four-set win at Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday.
• UC Riverside’s Jessica Dean helped the Highlanders return to the win column with a 3-1 win at UC San Diego. Dean logged career dig number 1,400 in La Jolla, moving up to fourth all-time while becoming just the sixth Highlander ever to reach the mark.
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 >>>
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