|
What 2 Watch 4
The field winnowed from five to two teams left with an unblemished record in Big West action after last week, with defending champion Cal Poly (8-6, 4-0 BW) and UC Santa Barbara (8-7, 4-0 BW) atop the table. Both teams are on the road this week with matches against Long Beach State (11-3, 3-1 BW) and Cal State Fullerton (5-12, 0-4 BW). The Beach are coming off a split weekend and looking to start another streak after seeing their string of 10 straight stopped by CSUN.
Knotted in third in the league standings with LBSU are the duo of UC San Diego (7-8, 3-1 BW) and UC Irvine (5-10, 3-1 BW), who are also both hosting this weekend as two new members locked in the middle of the standings with an even conference mark Sacramento State (7-8, 2-2 BW) and Utah Valley (4-12, 2-2 BW) make their first road trip as Big West members.
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. 49 in adjusted RPI, followed by Cal Poly (116), CSUN (154), UC Santa Barbara (168) and UC San Diego (189).
• Two teams lands in the top 10 in the national statistical rankings: CSUN is ninth in blocks per set (2.90) and Cal Poly lands in 10th in hitting percentage at 0.290.
• Four players find themselves in the Top 25 with two in the top 10 in NCAA Division I in the individual statistical rankings through Week 6: Iye Okolo of CSUN (1.53 blocks per set - 9th; 84 total blocks - 6th) and Long Beach State setter Madi Maxwell with two triple doubles on the year (3rd).
• Three team and six 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. Iye Okolo’s 14.0 blocks for CSUN in a five-setter against Denver on Aug. 29 ties for tops in the nation.
Weekly Winners
Four road warriors took home weekly honors with two in the grouping earning first-time nods. UC San Diego senior Ireland McNees (4.56 k/s, 5.00 pts/s .405 pct.) led the Tritons to two wins in Riverside for offensive honors and a first career award. UC Irvine duo Whitney Wallace (4.56 d/s) and Taylor Boice (2.11 k/s, 2.61 pts/s) took home defensive and rookie awards, respectively, with Boice tabbed for the first time after their Inland Empire road swing. Finally, Cal Poly’s Alexis Haury directed the Mustangs to sweeps at Utah Valley and Sacramento State while averaging 10.83 assists per set while the team hit a combined .430.
Last Week, Today
Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara kept a clean record through the second week of Big West play to move to the top of the table. Seven squads won at least one match with five enjoying a pair of victorious efforts on the weekend.
Cal Poly (8-6, 4-0 BW)
The Mustangs swept through Sacramento State and Utah Valley on the road with head coach Caroline Walters claiming a Cal Poly program record 85th Big West win against the Hornets. Big West Setter of the Week Alexis Haury directed the offense with 10.83 assists and 2.50 digs per set along with a trio of aces and blocks. Haury also contributed a 4-for-4 attacking night in Saturday’s match at UVU. Emma Fredrick was the offensive standout of the weekend, powering down 17 kills on .625 hitting with eight digs, two blocks and an ace in Sacramento on Thursday while Charlotte Kelly refused a career-best seven blocks with five kills on 10 errorless swings in the same match. The Mustangs are currently connecting at a .290 clip on the season, which ranks tenth in the nation.
UC Santa Barbara (8-7, 4-0 BW)
The Gauchos road swing through Utah and Sacramento resulted in a pair of wins to stay unbeaten in league play as Auburn Tomkinson set the tone on offense. The senior averaged 3.71 kills per set on an impressive .600 hitting. Tomkinson compiled 15 kills off 20 errorless attempts to hit .750 in the sweep at UVU. Defensively, Cortni Youngblood totaled 27 digs to average 3.86 per set in the road swing with 17 in the four-setter against the Hornets.
UC Irvine (5-10, 3-1 BW)
The Anteaters enjoyed a two-win week in the Inland Empire to extend the string to three conference victories in a row. Big West Defensive Player of the Week Whitney Wallace anchored the back row with 4.56 digs per set, recording double figure dig efforts in both outings for 12 consecutive matches. Wallace popped up 17 in the four-setter against UCR before a 24-dig outing at CBU. Rookie of the Week Taylor Boice was a key on offense, highlighted by 12 kills on .381 hitting and four blocks against the Highlanders. Ava Gronemeyer reached double-figure kills each match with a career-high 15 against the Lancers averaging 2.78 per set on .293 hitting for the week.
UC San Diego (7-8, 3-1 BW)
The Tritons were led by first-time Big West Offensive Player of the Week Ireland McNees on the road to a pair of wins in Riverside as the senior averaged 4.56 kills on .405 hitting and 1.33 digs per set to go along with four blocks and a pair of aces. The CBU match efficiency was on point with 19 kills on 35 errorless swings for a .543 clip. At UCR, McNees registered a career-best 22 kills for UCSD’s first five-set victory of the season. LIbero Paulina Baillie averaged 3.89 digs per set on the weekend and served up and impressive seven aces on the weekend, with four against the Highlanders and three against the Lancers.
CSUN (6-8, 2-2 BW)
The Matadors swept through a pair of opponents on a week that started by halting a 10-match winning streak for Long Beach State, which stood as the sixth longest in the country. Behind 29 assists and six digs from senior setter Katie Kolar CSUN hit a season high .379 (45-12-87) against the Beach. Seniors Hailey Brockway and Julia Bazylevych combined for 21 kills with Brockway hitting a career-high .476. The Matadors limited LBSU to a season-low .114 hitting due in no small part to a 9-3 block advantage with senior Iye Okolo leading the way with seven blocks along with nine kills on .357 hitting. Also sweeping through Cal State Fullerton, Bazylevych connected for a career-high 25 kills on .475 hitting in the match to average 5.67 kills, 1.83 digs and 1.17 blocks per set with four aces on the week. The 25 strikes is most in the country in a three-set match.
Additional Accolades
• Cal State Bakersfield’s Suelen Lima knocked down 10 kills with three blocks and three digs in the Friday sweep of Cal State Fullerton with true freshman Defne Yanik playing big at the net with five total blocks.
• Sophomore outside hitter Sidney Hamaker led Long Beach State in both matches of the split the weekend contributing 12 kills with six digs in the sweep at Cal State Bakersfield.
• California Baptist setter Maddie Brown notched a pair of home starts for the Lancers and compiled a banner outing with a season-high 37 assists and career-best 18 digs, alongside three kills and five total blocks including two solos in Saturday’s five-set loss to UC Irvine.
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.
|
|