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What 2 Watch 4
Cal Poly (14-6, 10-0 BW) continues their hot streak through Big West play remaining unscathed and sporting a 10-0 mark against league play. The Mustangs head south this week to take on UC Irvine (9-12, 7-3 BW) and UC San Diego (10-11, 6-4 BW) with the Anteaters and Tritons in third and fourth, respectively. Cal Poly’s string of wins against Big West foes runs to 12 when counting two victories in the 2025 championship to claim the title, and the 10 straight is good for 12th nationally. UC Santa Barbara (10-11, 6-4 BW) also heads south to UCSD and UCI with the Gauchos knotted with the Tritons in the standings and one game back from the Anteaters.
Second-place squad Long Beach State (16-4, 8-2 BW) is two games behind Cal Poly and at home, hosting Cal State Bakersfield (10-12, 5-5 BW) and CSUN (9-11, 5-5 BW). Both the Roadrunners and Matadors sit knotted in a four-way tie for sixth position with a half a dozen teams advancing to the 2026 Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship over Thanksgiving week.
Other teams currently in the postseason mix include Sacramento State (10-11, 5-5 BW) and Utah Valley (7-15, 5-5 BW) who both head to the Inland Empire with contests against California Baptist (5-16, 2-8 BW) and UC Riverside (4-17, 0-10 BW). The final host of the week is Cal State Fullerton (6-17, 1-9 BW), who welcome in CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield.
All 12 matches are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for specific match information. Check listings for specific match information.
The Big West in the National Rankings
• Long Beach State currently leads the league in the national RPI raking report for Oct. 25, sitting at No. 68 in adjusted RPI with Cal Poly jumping into the top 100 at 86th this week.
• Big West unbeaten Cal Poly climbed up to sixth in the NCAA Division 1 national statistical rankings in hitting percentage, swinging at a rate of at 0.293 (971-311-2253). The Big West’s best is only one of two teams from a non-Power 4 conference to land in the Top 15 (Western Kentucky - CUSA - .297).
• Seven players find themselves in the national Top 25 in various statistical categories. Notably, Cal Poly duo Breklyn Pulling (.442 - 6th) and Charlotte Kelly (.416 - 20th) are the only hitting tandem in the top 25 from the same team other than the pair of Andi Jackson (.479) and Manaia Ogbechie (.423) of national No. 1 Nebraska. Iye Okolo is 22nd with 1.39 blocks per set, and Long Beach State setter Madi Maxwell has a trio of triple doubles (3rd).
• Three team and five 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 ties for tops the nation, as does Okolo’s 14.0 blocks for the Matadors in a five-setter against Denver on Aug. 29.
• Sacramento State’s Victoria Marthaler (4.15 kills per set - 9th; 11.24 attacks per set - 4th) and Maxwell of LBSU (five triple doubles - 8th) each grace the Top 10 in the NCAA Division I career listings.
Last Week, Today
The Big West had a unique week on the docket with a home-and-home series in the midpoint of the 18-game conference slate. Four of the six regular season series were 2-0 decisions with the other two resulting in 1-1 splits between the foes. Interestingly, both split decisions saw the road teams take the victory in all four matches.
Cal Poly vs. UC Santa Barbara
The Mustangs notched a pair of wins over the Gauchos in the Blue-Green Rivalry, including a 3-0 sweep on ESPNU on Thursday night. In that match, Cal Poly’s Breklyn Pulling hit an eye-popping .867 with 13 kills on 15 errorless swings, which rates third in NCAA Division I for kills in a match (13-19 attempts). For the weekend, Emma Fredrick averaged 4.50 kills and 2.67 digs per set with Alexis Haury providing 11.67 assists per set as the Mustangs hit .369 (83-21-168) to increase their average to .293 which rates sixth in the country.
Long Beach State vs. Cal State Fullerton
The Beach swept through the Titans in a pair of matches with Sidney Hamaker leading the way on offense. The sophomore hit .354 while averaging 4.17 kills, 2.33 digs and 4.58 points per set. Izzy Mahaffey upped the career-high in digs in consecutive weeks, popping up 23 in Saturday’s road win with setter Madi Maxwell guiding LBSU to hit over .300 in both matches.
Utah Valley vs. Sacramento State
The Wolverines twice dispatched the Hornets in a battle of new Big West institutions with both sides showing superior individual play on the court. For UVU, Big West Defensive Player of the Week Brielle Rueckert was force at the net with 15 total blocks, or 2.14 per set, while also adding 11 kills through seven sets. In Saturday’s home sweep, Rueckert posted up for nine blocks and five kills on .364 hitting. Offensively, Olivia Gloeckner averaged 3.43 points per set with 18 kills and 11 blocks. This Thursday road match saw the junior contribute 13 kills on .407 hitting with five denials. Setter Evalyn Medaris became the fourth UVU player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists over the week, which rates 20th on the career listings. On the other side of the floor, Sacramento State’s libero Reese Ampi was able to scoop up 42 digs, including a season-high 25 at home to average an impressive 6.00 per set. Skyler Gartin hit a career-best 16 kills with just on error on 34 swings to hit .441 in the four-setter
California Baptist vs. UC Riverside
Playing their first Big West iterations of the Crosstown Showdown, city rivals California Baptist and UC Riverside played a pair of five-setters with the Lancers claiming the win in both. Big West Setter of the Week Maddie Brown registered a career-high 51 assists in both matches to average 10.20 per set while serving up six aces in the victorious efforts. Rookie of the Week award winner Anaiya Campbell exploded for a career-best 24 kills while hitting .417 on Saturday with six strikes in the fifth frame to highlight the weekend. Senior Eleftheria Baxa notched a new career high with 19 strikes on .581 hitting with eight digs and three blocks in Friday’s road meeting.
UC Irvine vs. UC San Diego
The Anteaters and Tritons split the weekend series with both sides winning on the road. Friday’s match in La Jolla saw UC Irvine get the reverse sweep as setter Nicole Feliciano recorded a first career triple double with a new career-high 14 kills on a team-best .407 hitting (14-3-27) with 22 assists and a season-high 17 digs. The senior surpassed the 3,000-assist mark in the rematch becoming just the fourth ‘Eater in program history to reach the milestone. Another UCI player to shine on the court was libero Whitney Wallace, who posted back-to-back 20-dig performances, averaging 4.78 per set. Saturday saw Big West Offensive Player of the Week Molly McCluskey lead UC San Diego to victory with 24 kills and 11 digs, one of two of double-doubles on the weekend for the junior. Madison Johnson went up for 1.44 blocks per set including a career-best matching seven including one solo stuff in the four-set win at UCI.
Cal State Bakersfield vs. CSUN
The Roadrunners and Matadors each took a match away from home, starting with Cal State Bakersfield’s five-set victory on Friday night. CSUB won the first two sets before CSUN rallied back to force the decisive fifth. It looked like the home team was set to secure the victory with the match point and score at 14-10 in the frame before the `Runners put down the next six in a row to rally for the win. Jordyn Waite-Ward and Leylah Duran combined for the block on the third match point before Suelen Lima fired off three consecutive kills to stun the Matadors. In the rematch, CSUN’s Katie Kolar directed the offense to the four-set win while averaging 12.25 assists per set as five Matadors players reached double-figure points tallies and five notched a double-digit dig effort.
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.
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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