The blocks finally went Cal Poly’s way Friday night as the women’s volleyball team halted UC Davis’ 11-match winning streak and earned its first victory in Big West Conference play.
The Mustangs continued their momentum on Saturday with another sweep, this time against Pacific, moving their record to 2-2 in the Big West.
Sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Keddy recorded a career-high 21 kills in the victory over Pacific, while sophomore outside hitter Kristina Graven had 14 kills of her own. Set scores went 25-17, 25-21 and 25-22.
Graven also blocked the final point of the UC Davis match to end Cal Poly’s two-match losing streak.
The Mustangs defeated the Aggies 25-21, 25-23 and 25-20 for their sixth win of the season thanks to an aggressive defense that out-blocked UC Davis 10-8.
“Mott Gym was unbelievable tonight,” interim head coach Caroline Walters said. “We love playing at home. The fans were tremendous, and we really fed off their energy.”
The Mustangs entered the game with an overall record of 5-10, and were in last place in the Big West Conference with a 0-2 league record. Cal Poly was 0-5 against ranked opponents this season, including having just lost a 5-set match to rival Long Beach State 25-22, 24-26, 21-25 and 16-14.
UC Davis traveled to San Luis Obispo with a 16-1 overall record and was in first place in the conference. The Aggies’ only loss coming into the match was against the University of North Dakota in four sets.
“We absolutely think that we are better than our record indicates,” Walters said. “We are going to continue to practice with the lineup we started tonight and get better.”
The Mustang victory against the Aggies was a team effort. Standout Keddy led Cal Poly with 16 kills, and Graven added 10 more to bolster an improved offense.
Keddy had only two errors and lead the way in the decisive third set with six kills. For the match, Cal Poly had a .210 hitting percentage compared to UC Davis’ .116.
“There is always more pressure in league games,” senior libero Lauren Law said. “Tonight we came in focused, and our passing was really improved.”
Cal Poly had a 40 to 37 advantage in digs. Law had 12 digs while Graven and Keddy had 10 and nine, respectively. Caroline Mercado totaled 16 digs for the visiting Aggies. However, UC Davis was doomed by 27 errors including nine in the decisive third set. Cal Poly played a cleaner game, only committing 18 errors.
“We always come out with the same intensity for each set,” Law said. “But after the second set, we could feel the momentum on our side were really confident.”
UC Davis started the third set flat and called time-out after falling behind 8-4. They battled back to tie it at 11, but were never able to fully gain momentum. The team’s comeback wilted down the stretch, and Cal Poly widened the lead to 23-19. After exchanging points, the entire crowd rose to its feet in anticipation of a Mustang victory as Graven successfully blocked UC Davis’ final attack.
“Going forward, our destiny is in our hands,” Walters said. “We are still in the hunt for a league title. All we need to do is keeping working and improving.”
Walters had a special fan club on hand for the game. Her parents were in the crowd to witness the biggest victory of their daughter’s young career.
The Mustangs go on the road this week to UC Irvine for a match on Oct. 7. The Anteaters are 0-2 in Big West play and suffered two defeats to Cal Poly in 2010. The team returns home on Oct. 12 for a match against UC Santa Barbara.