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What 2 Watch 4
Week 2 of The Big West slate is on the docket with five squads riding into the weekend at 2-0 against conference opponents. Thursday, two of those five will fall from the list as UC Santa Barbara (6-7, 2-0 BW) travels to Utah Valley (4-10, 2-0 BW) and defending champion Cal Poly (6-6, 2-0 BW) takes the trip to Sacramento State (7-6, 2-0 BW).
The final squad looking to stay in the ranks of the unbeaten is riding a league-best 10 match winning streak, tied for sixth-longest in the country. Long Beach State (10-2, 2-0 BW) hasn’t dropped a match since the opening weekend of the season and is on the road for the third straight week as the Beach takes on CSUN (4-8, 0-2 BW) and Cal State Bakersfield (5-9, 0-2 BW) looking to get to a dozen.
UC Riverside (4-9, 0-2 BW) is playing at home for the first time of the year, taking on both squads who notched one win in the opening weekend as UC Irvine (3-10, 1-1 BW) and UC San Diego (5-8, 1-1 BW) head to the Inland Empire. That will leave Cal State Fullerton (5-10, 0-2 BW) as the last league team to compete on their home floor, as the Tritons continue the road swing at Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN .
All 12 matches this week are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for specific match information.
The Big West in the National Rankings
• One team lands in the top 10 nationally in their play at the net: CSUN is eighth in blocks per set (2.89) and ninth in total team blocks (141.5).
• Three players find themselves in the top 10 in NCAA Division I in the individual statistical rankings through Week 5: Victoria Marthaler of Sacramento State (219 total kills - 10th), Cal State Bakersfield’s Suelen Lima (579 total attacks - 10th) and Long Beach State setter Madi Maxwell with two triple doubles on the year (3rd).
• Three team and five individual match performances rate in the top five in the country thus far. Iye Okolo’s 14.0 blocks for CSUN in a five-setter against Denver on Aug. 29 ties for tops in the nation.
• As a conference, The Big West is eighth in the nation in total kills (7,301), assists (6,72), and points (9,448.5) and 10th in aces (856) in 605 sets played.
Weekly Winners
After perfect weekends to open league play, Utah Valley’s Miley Thunstrom (offensive), Madi Maxwell (defensive) of Long Beach State and Sacramento State pair Makenna Wiepert (setter) and Nikola Gamlin (rookie). Thunstrom and Gamlin are first time selections, while Wiepert earned back-to-back acclaim. For LBSU junior setter Maxwell, this marks a first defensive nod, but an eighth overall weekly award.
Last Week, Today
Long Beach State continued its fiery start to the season as five squads opened league play with a winning weekend and two more split to start The Big West slate. All told, it was good to be the home team as 10 out of 12 were winners on the weekend.
Long Beach State (10-2, 2-0 BW)
The Beach carried the hot had into league action, running their winning streak to 10 in a row, one of seven teams in the country with a double-digit streak and the longest for the program since the 2014 season under AVCA & LBSU Hall of Fame coach Brian Gimmillaro. Sophomore Sidney Hamaker again led the offense on the road swing with 4.14 kills per set with 10 strikes on .313 hitting in a sweep at UC Irvine and 19 in a four-setter at UC San Diego. Hamaker set a career-high with six aces to go along with seven blocks and nine digs against the Tritons. Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors were bestowed on setter Madi Maxwell whose all-round play accounted for team highs in blocks (13), digs (28) and assists (46). At UCSD, the junior finished with 17 digs and eight blocks to go along with five kills
Sacramento State (7-6, 2-0 BW)
The Hornets made quick work of their opening weekend in Big West play, sweeping through California Baptist and UC Riverside at home. Keonahi-ilani Soliata led the offense with 4.17 kills per set on .364 hitting and Skyler Gartin spearhead the defense that limited the opposition to a combined 0.163 hitting percentage with 2.00 blocks per set highlighted by seven denials against the Lancers. Big West Rookie of the Week Nikola Gamlin hit a whopping .632 with six kills in each match on 19 errorless swings on the week from the middle blocker position. Back-to-back Big West Setter of the Week Makenna Wiepert averaged 11.50 assists and 2.50 digs per set while adding four aces as the Hornets hit .407.
Cal Poly (6-6, 2-0 BW)
The defending champion Mustangs opened conference play at home with wins over Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN with junior Kendall Beshear carrying the offense. The outside hitter put down 4.00 kills per set highlighted by 20 on .326 hitting to go along with eight digs in a four-set victory against the Matadors on Saturday. Defensively, Breklyn Pulling set the tone at the net, with a team-high four blocks in a sweep of the `Runners, averaging 1.17 blocks per set on the weekend. Floor general Alexis Haury averaged 10.00 assists and 3.14 digs per set as the offense hit .272. The Mustangs are currently connecting at a .274 clip on the season, which ranks 26th in the nation.
UC Santa Barbara (6-7, 2-0 BW)
The Gauchos opened up league play with home wins against CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield, with reigning Big West Freshman of the Year Gabi Martinez leading the offense with 4.14 kills and 2.14 digs per set and four aces in the home stand. Martinez finished with 17 kills, nine digs and three aces in Friday’s 3-1 win against the Matadors to highlight the weekend. Defensive specialist Cortni Youngblood popped up 3.29 digs per set to anchor the defensive efforts.
Utah Valley (4-10, 2-0 BW)
The Wolverines claimed two wins at home highlighted by the play of Big West Offensive Player of the Week Miley Thunstrom. The sophomore recorded a career-high 17 kills on .333 hitting in Thursday’s sweep of UC Riverside and matched the mark on Saturday in a five-setter against California Baptist that also included eight digs, five blocks and three aces. Senior libero Lani Toutai reached the 20 dig plateau in the short match against the Highlanders, and setter Evalyn Medaris enjoyed a strong performance against CBU with 36 assists, four kills and a career-high eight blocks to provide a spark on both sides of the net.
Additional Accolades
• UC Irvine libero Whitney Wallace averaged a conference-best 5.43 digs per set with just one reception error on 41 attempts (.976) as the Anteaters split the weekend. In the 3-1 win against Cal State Fullerton, Wallace posted 21 digs, a fourth 20+ performance of the season, to go along with a career-high eight assists.
• UC San Diego split the weekend with a sweep of the Titans as Ireland McNees posted an 11-kill outing, one of three Tritons in double figures in the match.
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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