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What 2 Watch 4
Just one unbeaten remains in Big West play as Cal Poly (10-6, 6-0 BW) takes a six match winning streak and sweeps in five of those matches into their home weekend against Inland Empire foes California Baptist (3-14, 0-6 BW) and UC Riverside (4-13, 0-6 BW) as both are seeing a first league victory.
The bunch for second is tight, with six squads knotted at 4-2 in the standings through three weekends of Big West play. In the grouping, Sacramento State (9-8), CSUN (8-8) and UC Santa Barbara (8-9) take to the home floor with the Matadors riding a string of four consecutive wins and taking on two of the other teams in the bunch - UC San Diego (8-9) and UC Irvine (6-11). The final team in the tightly-packed table is Long Beach State, hitting the road to close the weekend against the Hornets after meeting up with Utah Valley (4-14, 2-4 BW) on Thursday.
All 12 matches this week are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for specific match information.
The Big West in the National Rankings
• Long Beach State currently leads the league in the first national RPI raking report, sitting at No. 51 in adjusted RPI, followed by Cal Poly (101), CSUN (168), Sacramento State (169), UC Santa Barbara (183) and UC San Diego (199).
• Two teams land in the top 10 in the national statistical rankings: league-leaders Cal Poly lands in ninth in hitting percentage at 0.291 and CSUN is ninth in opponent hitting percentage (.153).
• Four players find themselves in the Top 25 with three in the top 10 in NCAA Division I in the individual statistical rankings through Week 7: Iye Okolo of CSUN (93 total blocks - 8th), reigning Big West Offensive Player of the Week from Sacramento State Victoria Marthaler (769 total attacks - 10th) and Long Beach State setter Madi Maxwell with two triple doubles on the year (4th).
• Three team and four individual match performances rate in the top five in the country thus far. The 25-kill performance in a three-set match for Julia Bazylevych of CSUN in the sweep of Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 10 tops the nation. Okolo’s 14.0 blocks for CSUN in a five-setter against Denver on Aug. 29 ties for tops in the nation.
• Chloe Leluge of Cal Poly (.371 hitting - 9th), Sacramento State’s Marthaler (4.10 kills per set - 9th; 11.07 attacks per set - 7th) and Maxwell of LBSU (four triple doubles - 9th) each grace the top 10 in the NCAA Division I career listings.
Weekly Winners
Cal Poly’s Alexis Haury repeated as Setter of the Week guiding the Mustangs to a pair of road sweeps while averaging 11.00 assists and 4.17 digs per set. Sacramento State duo Victoria Marthaler (5.13 k/s, 5.63 p/s) and Skyler Gartin (1.75 b/s, 2.00 k/s, .469 pct.) took home offensive and defensive honors, respectively, after road wins at UC San Diego and UC Irvine. Triton Gia Rivera (4.43 k/s, .417 pct.) earned rookie honors for the week after a home split.
Last Week, Today
Cal Poly kept the streak rolling to move into sole possession of the top line of the standings while six squads sit in a tie for second as the race to make the six-team Big West Championship bracket heats up. Eight teams won at least one match with Cal State Fullerton picking up their first league and first home win of the 2026 campaign.
Cal Poly (10-6, 6-0 BW)
The Mustangs swept through Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State on the road, a second consecutive weekend with six sets of action. Sophomore middle blocker Charlotte Kelly hit an eye-popping .773, connecting for a combined 17 kills on 22 errorless swings to raise the season hitting percentage to .431 which rates 13th in NCAA Division I. This is a second consecutive weekend for Kelly to see a clean hitting weekend. Back-to-back Big West Setter of the Week Alexis Haury dished out 11.00 assists per set with 4.17 digs per set as the Mustangs raised their season hitting percentage to .291 to climb up to ninth in the national rankings.
Cal Poly’s .506 clip against Eastern Illinois in a three-setter on Sept. 11 currently ranks fourth in the NCAA Division I individual match highs.
CSUN (8-8, 4-2 BW)
The Matadors extended the win streak to four after a successful road trip to the Inland Empire with senior Hailey Brockway leading the offensive efforts. Reaching double figure kills in each match, the win at CBU included a 20 kills and a season-high 16 digs, two aces and two blocks for the double-double in the four-set win on Saturday after sweeping the Highlanders Friday. Libero Paige Sentes averaged 4.43 digs per set while adding 11 assits on the weekend while setter Katie Kolar finished with 10.71 assists per set, directing CSUN to their first two road wins of the season. In the quick match against UCR, Kolar closed with 32 assists, nine digs, four blocks, two aces and four kills on .571 hitting (4-0-7) for the all-around effort.
Julia Bazylevych connected on a career-high 25 kills while hitting .475 in a win against Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 3 to record the is most strikes in the country in a three-set match thus far this season. Also topping the Division I lists, Iye Okolo’s 14.0 blocks against Denver on Aug. 29 is tied for first in a five-set match.
Sacramento State (9-8, 4-2 BW)
The Hornets’ first Southern California road swing resulted in a pair of four-set wins and weekly awards for Victoria Marthaler (offensive) and Skyler Gartin (defensive). Marthaler put down 20+ kills against both UC San Diego and UC Irvine to average 5.13 per set to lead the scoring efforts. Meanwhile Gartin was a force at the net, with 14 total blocks to average 1.75 per set that led the defense to limit the opposition to just .197 hitting. Gartin also hit .469 for the week with 16 kills along with five aces to make a mark on the offense. The successful swing was set up by the play of Makenna Wiepert who posted a pair of double-doubles while averaging 9.88 assists and 3.75 digs per set along with five blocks and four aces.
Cal State Bakersfield (8-10, 3-3 BW)
The Roadrunners notched wins at California Baptist and UC Riverside powered by the arm of Suelen Lima, who provided a team-high 3.25 kills per set along with 1.88 digs per set. Reaching double figures in both matches, Lima posted 10 kills with seven digs and five blocks in Friday’s sweep of the Lancers. Directing a 5-1 system, senior Luiza da Cruz averaged 9.75 assist and 1.75 digs per set highlighted with career highs of 47 assists and six kills as the `Runners outlasted UCR in five on Saturday.
Additional Accolades
• Cal State Fullerton freshman outside hitter Sofia Shine set a career high with 20 kills on .429 hitting (20-2-42) in the Titans’ first five-set victory over UC Santa Barbara, their first Big West win of the season. The monster outing and victory came in reverse sweep fashion on their home floor.
• UC San Diego true freshman Gia Rivera led the Tritons in both matches in a home split, averaging 4.43 kills per set on .417 hitting. In Saturday’s sweep of Utah Valley, Rivera put down 13 kills at a career-best .423 clip en route to a second career Big West Rookie of the Week award.
• Sophomore outside hitter Sidney Hamaker led Long Beach State in both matches of the split the weekend contributing 14 kills and five aces in the four set win over UC Santa Barbara. Junior Madi Maxwell assisted on 30 scoring plays with 17 digs and seven blocks to lead the team in all three categories as the Beach handed the Gauchos their first league loss of the season.
• UC Irvine spilt their home weekend against new conference foes, opening with a sweep of Utah Valley. Junior libero Whitney Wallace popped up a team-leading 6.00 digs per set and recorded a seventh 20+ dig outing against Sacramento State and a 14th consecutive double-digit match. Setter Nicole Feliciano recorded a 50th career double-double in the UVU win with 17 assists and 10 digs and added a season-high 29 assists with seven kills, seven digs and four blocks against the Hornets.
Non-Conference Notables
• Long Beach State clocked in at No. 35 on the toughest schedule listings in the non-conference segment at 0.615, leading The Big West. The Beach entered league play at 8-2 and on an eight-game winning streak after dropping their first two contests of the year to UCLA.
• Cal Poly opened the season seeing themselves in the listings of four straight AVCA polls including the preseason iteration, receiving votes in each after a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 as the last unseeded team standing in 2025.
• The Big West got Big Wins over three Big 12 opponents, two of which game on the road. UC Santa Barbara swept through RV Arizona on their home floor on Aug. 30. Then, Sacramento State took down Texas Tech in three on Sept. 4 at home. Finally, Long Beach State pulled off a five-set victory at RV Utah on Sept. 5 to round out the Power-4 wins in the non-conference segment.
Mark Your Calendars
The storied Blue-Green Rivalry game on Oct. 22 has been selected for national tv, as UC Santa Barbara plays host to defending Big West champion and NCAA regional participant Cal Poly at the Thunderdome at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. In last season’s pair of meetings the games were hotly contested, both needing the full five sets before each team taking a win on their respective home floor. The contest is part of a unique scheduling week that sees a home-and-home for every squad at the midpoint of the league slate. Read more >>>
Welcome to The Big West
New teams and coaches enter the league in 2026 as California Baptist, Sacramento State and Utah Valley bump the membership to 12 institutions this season. Including these three on the sidelines and three incoming head coaches, half of the league’s leaders will be new.
Defending WAC champion and NCAA participant Utah Valley is under the direction of Sam Atoa, entering a 23rd season at the helm and sporting a 380-292 (.565) overall record. Atoa is the program’s only head coach, including prior to Division I membership from 2003-08.
Entering a second season at the helm of his alma mater, Trevor Johnson holds a 7-18 overall record as the coach at California Baptist and 157-100 career head coaching record in nine seasons.
The Hornets head coach for the last 17 seasons has been Ruben Volta, who stands at 299-259 (.536) as the program’s second-ever leader. Volta is a 1993 alumnus of Sacramento State.
Additionally, UC Santa Barbara will be under the direction of Michael Henchy, who comes to the Gauchos after time on the sideline as assistant coach at Penn State where he was part of the staff of the 2024 national champion squad.
UC San Diego will be guided by first-year head coach Spencer McLaughlin, who comes to La Jolla after a successful two-year stint as the associate head coach at Southern California.
Cal State Bakersfield rounds out the fresh faces on the sidelines with Kristen Wright taking the helm in Bakersfield, returning to her hometown after eight seasons at North Florida.
Preseason Prognostications
Cal Poly, defending Big West champion and NCAA regional participant from a year ago, was slated to reign supreme with 11 first-place votes in the 2026 Big West Women’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll and three returners and the Preseason Coaches’ Team.
The Mustangs earned every possible nod and the highest points available after the Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 accumulating 121 points from the league’s 12 head coaches. Looking to expand on their 27-8 overall record and 14-4 mark in Big West action from a season ago, the depth of the seasoned Cal Poly squad was showcased by three on the preseason team, with Kendall Beshear, Emma Fredrick and Chloe Leluge each taking honors.
Second in the polling with 109 total points was Long Beach State (22-9, 14-4 BW in 2025). UC Santa Barbara (23-9, 14-4 BW in 2025) came in third in the voting, pulling in 99 total points. Newcomer to the conference and 2025 WAC champion Utah Valley (16-11, 10-2 WAC in 2025) accumulated 84 total points and the final first-place vote to rank fourth in the poll.
Additional preseason team honors went to Molly McCluskey (UC San Diego), Victoria Marthaler (Sacramento State), Gabi Martinez (UC Santa Barbara) and Madi Maxwell (Long Beach State). Read more >>>
Last Year, Today - By the Numbers
• Four Big West teams closed the season with at least 20 wins, and that number grows to five when including incoming member Sacramento State.
• Four Big West teams finished in the Top 100 in the adjusted RPI rankings, led by Big West automatic qualifier and NCAA Sweet 16 team Cal Poly (42), regular-season champion UC Davis (49), UC Santa Barbara (51) and Long Beach State (77).
• Cal Poly finished the season with an unblemished 15-0 record on their home floor at Mott Athletics Center, and currently sport a 19-match home winning streak. The string is good for the third-longest home streak in the country, only bested by Pittsburgh (51 games) and Kentucky (22 games).
• Cal Poly was the first unseeded team to advance to the third round in the NCAA Championship bracket since the seeding format changed in 2022, and the first Big West team to earn a spot in the regionals since 2019.
• In its final season in The Big West, Hawai’i averaged 5,804 fans per contest with 17 home games, good for third in the country and only trailing Nebraska and Wisconsin for average attendance figures.
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