Staring at a 15-match losing streak, the Cal Poly volleyball team is trying to keep things simple. Nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary.
“I’m sure that there is some frustration in terms of wins and losses, which is a natural reaction for them and the coaches as well,” head coach Sam Crosson said. “We have to keep getting better and that’s the easiest way to put it. We need to play smarter, more aggressive volleyball, and if we keep doing those things, we’ll get there. We’re just not there yet.”
That’s the mindset the Mustangs are trying to maintain in the thick of one of the worst statistical volleyball seasons to date. The Mustangs are 1-18 and are winless (0-7) in Big West Conference play. But with nearly half of the conference schedule remaining, awareness is the biggest thing Cal Poly needs to overcome to improve that mark, Crosson said.
“There’s lots of big things. We need to pass better, we need to set better, we need to make smarter decisions, but I think one of the biggest areas in watching our team play and reviewing those matches is our awareness of what we’re doing,” Crosson said. “Mentally, being able to go out and execute for long periods of time.”
To do so, however, Crosson isn’t doing anything out of the ordinary to try and change things up. It’s about belief at this point, he said.
“It’s just constantly trying to make them understand we believe in them; we believe in what we’re doing,” Crosson said. “Show them the success that we’ve had in the areas that we’re working on to help build some confidence for them. Show them that what we’re asking them to do is something that they can do.”
It’s been hard with the win and loss tally. After dropping a five-set loss to Cal State Bakersfield on Sept. 29, the Mustangs dropped a 3-1 loss to Hawaii and a 3-0 loss to Cal State Northridge. Then the Mustangs went on the road, dropping 3-0 losses to both Pacific and UC Davis this past weekend.
But despite those losses, the Mustangs have been able to remain optimistic, Crosson said.
“I think overall our attitudes are good,” Crosson said. “They certainly haven’t just thrown in the towel and given up on this year by any means. I think they’re still looking for the identity of who we’re going to be and working toward those things. But the bright spots are that they’re continuing to go out there and trying to get better. We’ll take that 10 times out of 10.”
Crosson is hoping that attitude turns into wins. While the Mustangs remain eight victories behind Hawaii (15-2, 8-0 Big West), which holds the top spot in the conference, the distance between the Mustangs and the best teams in the conference isn’t that large, Crosson said.
“There are some good teams out there, but we’re not too far behind those teams,” Crosson said. “We need to improve a little bit in a lot of areas, but at the same time when that improvement comes, it’s going to be a drastic difference in how well we’re doing and how well we’re competing against those teams. It’s not like we’re asking them to climb Everest, it’s more of just a hurdle. We got to figure out how we get over the hurdle.”
The Mustangs will return home this weekend for a two-match homestand. The team will host UC Riverside on Friday and Cal State Northridge on Saturday.
Jefferson P. Nolan and Brian De Los Santos contributed to this report.