NCAA interactive bracket >>>
Big West Champion Cal Poly starts their line dance in the national postseason on Thursday at 5 p.m., taking on No. 5 seed BYU from the Galen Center, home of first round host and No. 4 seed Southern California.
The Mustangs punched their tickets to an 18th appearance in the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship last night, downing regular-season champion and No. 1 seed UC Davis in four sets. Championship MVP Chloe Leluge, a sophomore middle blocker from Bend, Ore., paced the offense with 16 kills on .593 hitting (16-0-27) as Cal Poly earned their first Big West Championship title with the event just completing its third iteration.
Cal Poly (25-7, 14-4 Big West) enjoyed Mott Magic in 2025, going 15-0 on their home floor, the longest home winning streak in the country. Recording an 11-3 mark in non-conference play in 2025, Cal Poly’s season included out-of-league victories against a trio of tournament teams in then-No. 20 Utah, St. Thomas and Northern Colorado.
Along with second-team performer Leluge (.394 hit pct., 3.25 k/s, 1.05 b/s), the Mustangs have been paced by All-Big West first-team honorees in redshirt senior setter Emme Bullis (9.63 a/s) and sophomore outside hitter Kendall Beshear (3.06 k/s, 45 service aces) with honorable mention selections Emma Fredrick and Annabelle Thalken leading to a balanced attack for the Cal Poly offense. The Mustangs sport a team hitting percentage of .280, which has been consistently ranked in the top 20 in the nation all season long.
BYU (22-8, 10-8 Big 12) enters the postseason with consecutive wins over four NCAA qualifying teams against Arizona, No. 4 seed Kansas and Utah at home and at No. 5 seed Colorado in the regular-season finale. The Cougars enter the field for the program’s 38th appearance as an at-large qualifier from the Big 12, one of 10 teams from the league to see their names called on Sunday.
Sophomore setter Alex Bower directs the Cougars' offense with a league-leading 10.68 assists per set (11th in NCAA Division I), setting up the arm of freshman Suli Davis who is pounding 4.59 kills per set. Junior middle blocker Brielle Kemavor is an anchor at the net with a team-high 1.18 blocks per set on a Big 12-leading .374 hitting, setting up a showdown in the middle.
The last matchup between the Mustangs and Cougars came on Aug. 27, 2016, in Provo, Utah, a 3-0 decision in favor of the home team. BYU holds the 11-6 overall series record.
The victor between Cal Poly and BYU advances to take on the winners between the host Trojans (24-6, 15-5 Big 10 at-large) and Ivy League automatic qualifier Princeton (18-6, 11-3 Ivy) on Friday at 7 p.m. The last meeting between Cal Poly and USC came back on Sept. 8, 2012, and a meeting with the Tigers would be a first for the two teams.
Cal Poly is making their first return to the NCAA bracket since 2019, where they advanced into the second round. The Mustangs knocked off Georgia in five sets in their first-round matchup before advancing to face No. 3 seed and host Stanford. Cal Poly holds a 15-17 (.469) overall record in the national postseason.
Regional competition around the country is set for Dec. 11-14, with the semifinal set for Dec. 18 from Kansas City, Mo., with the season culminating on Dec. 21 with the national championship game on ABC.