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What 2 Watch 4
The penultimate week of The Big West regular season is here with postseason implications abounding. After last week’s results, Long Beach State (20-4, 12-2 BW) pulled closer to Cal Poly (17-7, 13-1 BW), with both teams locked into the six-team bracket of the 2026 Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship.
Sitting in a tie for third is Sacramento State (14-11, 9-5 BW) and UC Santa Barbara (13-12, 9-5), who face off with one another on Friday night in the Thunderdome to break the stalemate. Then on Saturday, the Hornets travel north to take on Cal Poly and the Gauchos welcome Utah Valley (9-17, 7-7 BW).
The Wolverines are one of four teams currently knotted in sixth with a .500 record in league action with CSUN (11-13, 7-7 BW) at UC Irvine (9-16, 7-7 BW) Friday and the Matadors at UC San Diego (11-14, 7-7 BW) on Saturday). Currently in fifth and looking for their first postseason appearance, Cal State Bakersfield (13-13, 8-6 BW) is also at UCSD and UCI.
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 Nov. 8, rising 15 spots to No. 51 in adjusted RPI after defeating Cal Poly. Despite the loss, the Mustangs improved six places to 74th in the latest listings.
• Big West leader Cal Poly is in eighth in the NCAA Division 1 national statistical rankings in hitting percentage, swinging at a rate of at 0.285. 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 - .296).
• Six players find themselves in the national Top 25 in various statistical categories. Highlighting the lists is a duo on the hitting percentage list in Cal Poly’s Breklyn Pulling (.424 - 8th) and Skyler Gartin of Sacramento State (.405 - 24th). Long Beach State setter Madi Maxwell has five triple doubles to rate third in NCAA Division I.
• One 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.
Last Week, Today
Four Big West teams took two wins, with Long Beach State halting Cal Poly’s winning streak of a dozen. Sacramento State, Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN also enjoyed winning weekends to jostle for favorable positioning for a potential postseason bid to The Big West Championship. Four others, also all in the postseason conversation, split their weekend pair.
Long Beach State (20-4, 12-2 BW)
The Beach made The Big West standings all the more interesting heading down the stretch, pulling within one game of Cal Poly and handing the Mustangs their first league loss of the season, 3-2, before completing the successful road trip with a 3-1 victory at UC Santa Barbara. Madi Maxwell rung up consecutive double-doubles to bring the total to five on the season. Maxwell finished with 11 kills, 26 assists, 14 digs and three blocks in SLO followed by 12 kills, 22 assists 10 digs and five blocks against the Gauchos. Starting both matches, freshman Kyler Birklebach averaged a team-best 1.11 blocks per set with nine kills on .412 hitting and four denials against the Mustangs and six stuffs with six kills and three service aces at UCSB.
Sacramento State (14-11, 9-5 BW)
The Hornets’ home weekend against UC Irvine and UC San Diego was a fruitful one with two wins and two weekly awards for Sacramento State players. Junior Victoria Marthaler combined for 47 kills (5.88 per set) on .330 hitting with an eye-popping 7.13 points per set. Sweeping through the Anteaters on Thursday, The Big West Offensive Player of the Week finished with 17 kills, nine digs and a career-high four aces. In Saturday’s five-setter against the Tritons, Marthaler posted a season-high 30 kills on a .364 clip and career-best five blocks with three aces and eight digs. Big West Setter of the Week Makenna Wiepert directed the team to a combined .313 hitting percentage while averaging 11.50 assists and 3.38 digs with six aces. The 57 assists in the five-set win against UCSD is a new career benchmark for the junior.
Cal State Bakersfield (13-13, 8-6 BW)
The Roadrunners jumped up to fifth in The Big West standings after downing UC Riverside and California Baptist in sweeping fashion on the home court. The back-to-back three-set wins haven’t been seen for Cal State Bakersfield since the 2022 season. Jordyn Waite-Ward averaged 3.17 kills per set on .310 hitting to lead the way with 12 strikes against UC Riverside. In Saturday’s match against her former team, Waite-Ward finished with seven strikes and two blocks in the victory against California Baptist. Big West Defensive Player of the Week Leylah Duran was big on the block with a 1.67 average. The freshman served up five aces with five kills and three blocks against the Highlanders and then followed with seven blocks and five kills on .444 hitting and two more aces against the Lancers.
CSUN (11-13, 7-7 BW)
The Matadors outlasted Inland Empire foes California Baptist and UC Riverside in a pair of five-setters with Fallyn Blotzer leading the way on offense. Blotzer averaged 4.20 kills per set on .333 hitting and 2.90 digs per set with nine total blocks and two aces. Each match was a 21-kill outing and ended in a double-double night. CSUN now stands as one of four teams knotted in sixth position in the standings heading into the penultimate week of play. With only six teams filling The Big West postseason bracket, each match is crucial. Three of the Matadors’ four remaining matches are against teams currently sitting in the four-way tie: UC Irvine, UC San Diego and Utah Valley.
Additional Standouts
• Cal Poly’s Emma Fredrick averaged 4.63 kills per set for the Mustangs in their weekend split including 19 strikes on .419 hitting in a rebound sweep over Cal State Fullerton. Setter Alexis Haury posted 36 assists with 10 digs in the win. Haury also notched a career-high 21 digs in the five-set loss to LBSU on Friday.
• Molly McCluskey was an offensive force for UC San Diego in their sweep of Utah Valley with 18 kills on .500 hitting (18-2-32) with six digs and two blocks in Thursday’s road win. Graduate student Brynne McGhie set up a career-high 39 scoring plays along with 10 digs in the victory.
• Utah Valley setter Evalyn Medaris neared triple-double in a five-set win against UC Irvine on Saturday, finishing the match with 40 assists, 12 digs, seven dills and five total blocks. For the week, the senior averaged 9.25 assists, 2.50 digs and 1.50 blocks per set.
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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