Cal Poly defeats Hawai’i and pulls into first place tie in Big West

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - In front of a raucous sellout crowd at Mott Athletics Center, Cal Poly, led by three players who finished with double figure kills, handed Hawai'i its first conference loss of the season Saturday night 3-1 (25-22, 31-33, 25-21, 21-19).

With the win, the Mustangs (10-8, 7-1 BW) moved into a three-way tie for first-place in the Big West standings with the Rainbow Wahine (10-6, 7-1 BW) and UCSB, all at 7-1. It's also Cal Poly's fifth win in a row as they remain a perfect 5-0 this season at home. The Mustangs have now beaten Hawai'i four of the last five times at Mott Athletics Center.

The Mustangs were led offensively by senior Maia Dvoracek, who matched her season-high with 21 kills while hitting a season-high .514 to go along with 14 digs and four aces. Redshirt sophomore Tommi Stockham also came up huge, finishing with 17 kills to go along with nine digs and two blocks. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Lizzy Markovska added 11 big-time kills as well as eight digs. Senior middle blocker Meredith Phillips and sophomore middle blocker Kate Slack anchored the defense at the net, finishing with seven blocks each. Phillips also added six kills while hitting .455.

As a team, Cal Poly finished with 14 blocks to seven for Hawai'i. The Mustangs also out-hit the Rainbow Wahine .313 to .145. Going to show just how close the match was, there were a total of 48 ties and 23 lead changes throughout. Through the first three sets, neither team ever held a lead of more than three points until the end of the third set when Cal Poly won it 25-21.

After the Mustangs got out to a 6-3 lead to begin the first set, Hawai'i matched that with its own 7-3 run to take a 10-9 lead. The Rainbow Wahine took a 15-12 lead into the media timeout before Cal Poly bounced back with a 5-2 run to tie it at 17 apiece. Hawai'i then scored three straight points take its three point lead back. With the Rainbow Wahine leading 22-19, the Mustangs charged back by scoring the next six points to win the set 25-22.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair the entire time with a total of 22 ties and 10 lead changes and was the highest scoring set for the Mustangs in a match since 2016 when Cal Poly beat Hawai'i in the first set of a match inside Mott 34-32. Tied 14-14, Hawai'i scored three straight before a 6-2 run by the Mustangs gave them the lead back at 20-19. With Cal Poly leading 24-23, a Rainbow Wahine kill tied it up forcing it into extra points. Cal Poly had a total of six match-point chances. However, tied 31-31, a ball handling error by the Mustangs followed by a Hawai'i service ace won the set for the Rainbow Wahine 33-31.

The third set was nearly just as tight as the second as there were 18 ties and nine lead changes throughout. Neither team led by more than two points until, with Cal Poly trailing 20-21, the Mustangs rattled off five consecutive points, capped off by a Dvoracek ace, to win the set 25-21.

In the fourth set, it was Dvoracek leading the way for Cal Poly as she had six kills for the set while the Mustangs got out to a 5-1 to begin it. Leading 11-8 later in the set, the Mustangs scored five unanswered points to stretch the lead to eight. Hawai'i responded with an 8-1 run to cut the lead to 17-16. With Cal Poly ahead 20-18, a 5-1 run, finished off by a block from Dvoracek and Slack finished off the win for the Mustangs, 25-19.

Cal Poly will play its next four matches on the road, starting next week when facing UC San Diego on Friday at 7 p.m. in La Jolla.

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics).