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By The Numbers
26 - The Big West has made 26 appearances in a regional field with the last coming in 2019 (Hawai’i)
7 - Cal Poly is in its seventh regional field and its last since 2007 (1989, ‘87, ‘85, ‘84, and ‘82).
1 - The Mustangs are the only unseeded team remaining in the 2025 bracket
What 2 Watch 4
After racing through the first and second rounds, Big West Champion Cal Poly heads to No. 1 seed and second-ranked Kentucky for regional action in the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship. The contest is set for approximately 12:30 p.m. PT from Historic Memorial Coliseum. Sporting at 27-2 overall record, the only two blemishes on the schedule for the SEC champion Wildcats came in the early-goings of the season against Nebraska and Pittsburgh, both at neutral sites.
Cal Poly (27-7) is making their 18th appearance in the NCAA Championship after downing Big West No. 1 seed UC Davis for the automatic berth into the field. The last time the Mustangs saw the national postseason was in 2019, and the calendar turns back to 2007 for their last run to the regionals.
The regional hosts advanced through the bracket’s first two rounds with wins over Wofford and No. 8 seed UCLA. Under the direction of AVCA South Region and SEC Coach of the Year Craig Skinner, Kentucky is paced by regional and SEC Player of the Year Eva Hudson who averages 4.59 kills on .317 hitting with 2.35 digs for the Cats. Regional and conference Freshman of the Year Kassie O’Brien has been averaging 10.97 assists per set on the season which has been bumped up to an eye-popping 14.29 assists per set through seven sets in the NCAA Tournament.
The series between the Mustangs and Wildcats is limited with this marking just their fourth meeting all-time. The last came in the first match of the 2019 season on Aug. 30, a sweep in favor of UK in Salt Lake City.
The victor between Cal Poly and Kentucky advances to take on the winners between Arizona State (28-3) and Creighton (27-5) on Saturday from Lexington. Match time is yet to be announced.
Both Thursday matches from Kentucky are set to air on ESPN2. Check listings for specific match information.
How We Got Here
NCAA First Round
Cal Poly engineered a stunning five-set comeback, upsetting fifth-seeded BYU after dropping two of the first three frames in a marathon match that featured 26 tie scores and 127 combined kills. The Mustangs rallied to take the final two sets (25-19, 17-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-10), completing a thrilling reversal against the 22nd-ranked Cougars. Three Mustangs recorded double-digit kills, four notched at least four blocks, and four collected double-digit digs. Kendall Beshear (20 kills, .383 pct., 12 digs) and Emma Fredrick (15 kills, 10 digs) delivered standout double-doubles with all-court impact.
NCAA Second Round
In a departure from their typical all-court offense, the Mustangs leaned on their pin hitters to secure a second straight ranked victory winning sets 1, 2 and 5 over No. 4 seed and host Southern California. Leading the charge was Emma Fredrick, who delivered a statement double-double with match-highs of 17 kills and 17 digs. Kendall Beshear and Annabelle Thalken followed with 12 kills apiece, with Beshear adding 14 digs and a pair of aces set up by Emme Bullis (44 assists, 12 digs).
Freshman middle Charlotte Kelly anchored the net with a career-high seven block assists, part of a 10-block team effort that helped limit USC’s top hitters, Leah Ford and London Wijay, to 19 kills on 55 swings.
Big West Championship Rewind
 First Round
The first round of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship saw two three-setters with No. 3 Long Beach State and No. 4 UC Santa Barbara up to the challenge to keep the bracket chalk through the first day of play.
Semifinals
Following a Thanksgiving Day break, The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds took to the court on Friday, both downing their opponents in four. For The top-seeded Aggies, two of the sets went to extra points in the battle with the Gauchos. Despite a Big West Championship record 24 kills for UCSB’s Eva Travis, UC Davis overcame with Jade Light (15 kills) and Brooke Hibino (13 kills) providing firepower set up by Mia Starr (40 assists, 21 digs) to claim the win.
In the nightcap, second-seeded Cal Poly took care of Championship hosts LBSU with a balanced attack that saw four players reach double figure kills paced by 17 kills on .533 hitting for middle blocker Chloe Leluge and a Championship record 51-assist outing to go along with 14 digs for Emme Bullis.
Championship
A new champion was crowned on Saturday night from LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif., as Cal Poly raced to the title after upending UC Davis, 3-1. Championship MVP Chloe Leluge struck for a team-high 16 kills on .593 hitting as the Mustangs out-aced the Aggies 6-0 and finished with the 12-7 blocking advantage to earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. Reigning victorious as the No. 2 seed, all three Big West champions have won from the second line of the bracket.
Meet the Mustangs
NCAA History
Cal Poly is representing The Big West in the brackets of the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship for the 18th time in program history, and a first appearance since 2019. The Mustangs hold a record of 17-17 (.500) in the national postseason.
Historically, Cal Poly has been in the tournament nine straight seasons in the 80s (81-82-83-84-85-86-87-88-89), once in the 90s (99) four times in the aughts (00-02-06-07), and four times in the last decade, the last two with the program under the direction of head coach Caroline Walters (17-18-19-25).
Big West Championship History
In their third Big West Championship field, Cal Poly reached consecutive championship finals, winning the title in 2025. The Mustangs sport a 4-2 overall record in Championship play.
Chloe Leluge was named Championship MVP after averaging 4.13 kills per set (33 kills in eight sets) while hitting a combined .561 and committing just one error (33-1-57). Leluge also added 10 total blocks (1.25 per set) in two matches.
Team Leaders/Award Winners
Cal Poly duo Kendall Beshear (3.08 k/s, 0.41 sa/s) and Emme Bullis (9.63 a/s, 1,184 total assists) were named to the All-Big West First Team, with middle blocker Chloe Leluge (2.30 k/s, 0.383 hit pct., 1.02 b/s) taking home second team honors and Charlotte Kelly (1.42 k/s, 0.316 hit pct., 1.03 b/s) earning the nod on the All-Freshman Team. A pair of Mustangs were also named honorable mention performers in Emma Fredrick (3.34 k/s, 2.76 d/s) and Annabelle Thalken (2.36 k/s). Leluge was also named to the AVCA All-Pacific Region honorable mention team.
Career Connections
Emme Bullis has assisted on 4,340 career scoring plays for the Mustangs, which moved up to fifth among active NCAA Division I players after the first two rounds of the NCAA Championship.
Season Superlatives
• Joined by NCAA First & Second Round hosts Nebraska (17-0) and Arizona State (16-0) with the longest home winning streaks in the country (15-0). The Big West enjoys two of the 10 teams to make it through the season unscathed on their home court with UC Davis standing at 9-0 at home.
• Third-straight 20-win season.
• Caroline Walters is the winningest coach in program history with a mark of 132-81 (0.620) in seven seasons at the helm.
2025 All-Big West Awards
The Big West unveiled its 2025 postseason honors on the eve of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship, with first-time regular-season champion UC Davis featured prominently in the listings.
Aggies senior outside hitter Jade Light collected Big West Player of the Year honors as the Sloughhouse, Calif., native is the first UC Davis player to ever win Player of the Year honors, coming in the Aggies’ last campaign in the conference.
Joining Light on the All-Big West first team were major award winners in Setter of the Year Mia Starr and Libero of the Year Ximena Cordero Barr. Both new awards since the 2022 season, Starr and Cordero Barr are the first UC Davis players to earn acclaim.
At the helm of the Aggies, Big West Coach of the Year Dan Conners became UC Davis’ all-time winningest coach in the final weeks of the regular season, now sporting 172 wins in 11 seasons. This is a first career coaching nod for Conners, and just the second Aggie coach to earn conference honors (Jamie Holmes, 2009). Conners now reigns with the most career wins in The Big West among active coaches.
Cal Poly saw two first team All-Big West selections in redshirt senior setter Emme Bullis and sophomore outside hitter Kendall Beshear.
UC Santa Barbara also enjoyed a pair on the eight-member first team, with redshirt senior Layanna Green joined by Big West Freshman of the Year Gabi Martinez on the listings. Rounding out the All-Big West first team was Long Beach State redshirt freshman Logan King, who hails from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada.
Read more and see the complete list of award winners >>>
The Big West in the Rankings
• Finishing the regular season with a perfect 15-0 home record, Cal Poly is alongside NCAA Regional hosts Nebraska (17-0) and Arizona State (16) for the longest home streaks nationally. The Big West enjoys two of the 10 teams to make it through the home slate unscathed with UC Davis finishing the home portion of the year at 9-0.
• The top four teams in the league are all in the Top 80 nationally in the final RPI and KPI listings. UC Davis topped the last RPI at 45, with Cal Poly in 51st in the KPI.
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 in addition to the postseason wins over BYU of the Big 12 and the Big 10’s USC.
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).
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