After sweeping the final home weekend of the season, Cal Poly volleyball clinched their first Big West Conference title in ten years Saturday night, sweeping third-place UC Irvine in three sets. 

For Cal Poly head coach Sam Crosson, the title marks the apex of a five year reconstruction of a program that went 4-26 in the year before he arrived. For the three seniors on the roster — Raeann Griesen, Savannah Neiman, and Taylor Nelson, the team’s 19th win in a row came on Senior Day at Mott Athletic Center. 

Mott dominance

Cal Poly finished their home season without losing a match at Mott all season. One thing that’s helpful is that they don’t play any non-conference games at home. But the Mustangs weren’t just good at home. They were dominant. In TOTAL, Cal Poly dropped just three sets at home in eight matches — two of those sets were against Hawai’i in their five-set victory. Cal Poly isn’t likely to host any NCAA Tournament games, but crowds definitely grew over the course of the season and you can bet that the Mustangs will start next season with about as big a home-court advantage as you can have in the Big West, aside from Hawai’i.

The right mix

Cal Poly used a familiar formula on the attack on Saturday night. Names like Van Winden, Nelson, Greisen, and Neiman led the way. Even in a three-set match in past years, Greisen or Adlee Van Winden would have a hugely disproportionate number of attacks and kills. Because they have such a depth of talent this season, Cal Poly has been able to limit each player’s number of swings. 

Volleyball health can be a cumulative thing. With the conference wrapped-up, it will be interesting to see if any players get days off or far less game usage on the road this week in preparation for the NCAA Tournament at the end of the month.

Mott Madness

Mott Athletic Center has been rocking the past few weeks. Starting with the Hawai’i game, Cal Poly drew 3,032, 2,781, 2,234, and 1,624 fans. Drawing almost 2,500 fans per game down the stretch is a pretty great number at Cal Poly. Being a top-25 team, this group certainly deserves all the attention they’re getting.

Alumnae on-hand

The conference-clinching match came in front of many of Crosson’s first freshman class that included Taylor Gruenewald and Shannon Fouts, among others. Those players endured 12-17 and 9-17 records in their first two seasons with the program, attended Cal Poly before there even was a beach program, and helped groom many of the younger players who are undefeated in conference play with just two matches left.

I didn’t pay a lot of attention to volleyball prior to Crosson’s arrival, but I know the culture wasn’t what he wanted it to be early-on. Changing culture isn’t always easy. This group has done it, and come out on the other side with all the success they could have hoped for. 

Congratulations are, certainly, in order. 

Photos from Friday night below by Owen Main. 

For more photos, or to purchase photos, click here.  If you just want to contribute to the cause, Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

The last time Cal Poly volleyball was poised to win the Big West title, Hawai’i wasn’t even in the conference. This year, though, has been different. Cal Poly has been in the top-25 for a few weeks now and are still undefeated in Big West Conference play. On Friday night, they beat Hawai’i in a five-set thriller.

The Cal Poly volleyball team celebrates after beating Hawai’i for the second time this season. Photo by Owen Main

For the first time in what seems like forever, the Mustang volleyball team is in the driver’s seat with five games to play. 

With their second victory over the Rainbow Wahine, Sam Crosson’s squad now has an effective three-match lead over Hawai’i and UC Irvine with just five matches left in the regular season. 

Let’s play five

The match on Friday started ugly. Multiple service errors and errant passes on defense kept the Mustangs from getting into any kind of rhythm. Cal Poly was able to get some of that rhythm in the second set and tied the match going into the break. 

The third and fourth sets were a grind. Hawai’i stormed back from a six-point defecit late in the third to take it, but Cal Poly once again rallied in the fourth, setting up the decisive fifth set. 

In the fifth, the teams didn’t seem to have much between them, until Cal Poly took a lead late. With the score tied at 14, Cal Poly scored the 15th point. After a Hawai’i point tied the match at 15, the Mustangs won two in a row to seal the match. 

Seniors show out

Taylor Nelson had 63 assists in the match, including some Sam Crosson said were simply a force of will. 

With Hawai’i focusing on stopping the Van Winden sisters, Raeann Greisen had what might have been her best match, notching 20 kills and hitting. 306 for the match. Junior Adlee Van Winden was also very efficient with 17 kills of her own and a .372 hitting percentage. 

At middle blocker, Savannah Niemen held her own against the taller Hawai’i team, managing 11 kills. 

There will be a few more games at Mott this year, but none will be as memorable as the Hawai’i game. 

Five year plan

Five years ago, Sam Crosson took over a program in shambles. His first few years weren’t easy as the program transitioned players from the previous regime out and got his players in. The Mustangs have been at the top of the conference’s second tier of teams for the past few years, but haven’t been able to break through. 

With new coaches at Hawai’i and Long Beach State this season, along with the addition of Torrey Van Winden to Cal Poly’s already-potent lineup, this was the year for Cal Poly to assert themselves at the top of the conference. 

Barring some kind of historic meltdown, that’s just what this Cal Poly team has done.

Tournament time?

With a top-25 ranking and a conference title likely, Cal Poly will almost definitely make the NCAA tournament. While they’ve hosted a tournament game before, the Mustangs aren’t likely to this season. That’s because the tournament has “regionals,” kind of like baseball, that use a bid process. Sure, they’ll take into account the solid record the Mustangs have amassed.

But the NCAA doesn’t like to make teams travel too far in sports like volleyball and with Stanford and USC ahead of them in RPI and UCLA ahead of them in the coaches poll, it would be unlikely the Mustangs could/would outbid three California-based Pac 12 schools for the right to host. 

But I suppose anything’s possible. 

Currently Cal Poly is ranked 23rd in the coaches poll and 21st in the RPI. 

Cal Poly has just one game this week, hosting UCSB on Friday night at 7pm at Mott Athletic Center, before two games at home and two on the road in subsequent weeks to finish the season. 

To view or purchase photos from Friday night’s match, click here. 

If you just want to contribute to the cause, Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Raeann Greisen had 10 kills for Cal Poly on Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t enough against LMU. By Owen Main

Cal Poly volleyball was out to their best 10-game start in 14 years, but none of that mattered on Saturday afternoon. With tailgaters lined up between Mott Gym getting ready for the football game, the volleyball team lost a match that might have been closer than the four-set box score indicated.

Tied at one set apiece, Cal Poly led the third set 14-9, before LMU finished the set on a dominant 16-4 run to take a 2-1 lead.

The Mustangs also led at about the same point in the fourth set before another LMU run helped them to the three sets to one victory.

Cal Poly played the match without injured middle blocker Taylor Gruenewald.

Cal Poly, 8-3 in pre-conference games, gets a week off before starting their Big West Conference schedule against the conference’s best team in Hawai’i. First serve is slated for 10:00pm Pacific time on Saturday night.

Photos by Owen Main — Click here to view