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What 2 Watch 4
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.
All three weekend matches from Los Angeles are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for specific match information.
How We Got Here
 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 15-17 (.469) in the national postseason. Their last win came in the 2019 season in a 3-2 win over Georgia before bowing out of the field after a loss to regional host and No. 3 seed Stanford.
Historically, Cal Poly has been in the tournament nine straight seasons in the 80s (81-82-83-84-85-86-87-88-89), once n the 90 (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 (3.06 k/s, 0.41 sa/s) and Emme Bullis (9.63 a/s, 1,088 total assists) were named to the All-Big West First Team, with middle blocker Chloe Leluge (2.35 k/s, 0.394 hit pct., 1.05 b/s) taking home second team honors and Charlotte Kelly (1.44 k/s, 0.311 hit pct., 1.02 b/s) earning the nod on the All-Freshman Team. A pair of Mustangs were also named honorable mention performers in Emma Fredrick (3.35 k/s) and Annabelle Thalken (2.38 k/s, 0.299 hit pct.).
Career Connections
Emme Bullis has assisted on 4,244 career scoring plays for the Mustangs, good for sixth among active NCAA Division I players.
Season Superlatives
• Longest home winning streak in the country (15-0). The Big West enjoys two of the 11 teams to make it through the home slate unscathed with UC Davis standings at 9-0 at home.
• Third-straight 20-win season.
• Caroline Walters is the winningest coach in program history with a mark of 130-81 (0.616) 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 leads the country in home streak length. The Big West enjoys two of the 11 teams to make it through the home slate unscathed with UC Davis standings at 9-0 at home.
• 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.
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
Four new head coaches to the league patrolled The Big West sidelines in 2025. Branden Higa came to UC Riverside from crosstown rival and future Big West opponent California Baptist. A rebuilding Cal State Bakersfield side featured co-interim head coaches in Felipe Nogueira and Cinthia Angus, both members of the Roadrunners’ 2024 staff. A new, but familiar, face was at the helm for Cal State Fullerton as program alumna and former assistant coach Nicky Cannon returned to the Titans.
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