Cal Poly volleyball team takes 3-1 loss to Cal

The tables were turned on the Cal Poly volleyball team in the worst way at the worst possible time Saturday night.

Cal used a finesse offense and stifling defense – usually staples for Cal Poly – to run away with a 3-1 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in front of a sellout crowd of 3,032 fans in Mott Gym. The Golden Bears won 30-24, 30-26, 23-30, 30-20 to advance to the round of 16 in Austin, Texas, on Friday.

“They did to us what we wanted to do to them,” Cal Poly head coach Jon Stevenson said. “They applied pressure from the service line. They got us off the net. They compromised our offense.”

Seen by the largest home crowd in the history of the volleyball program, the loss brought an end to a landmark season for Cal Poly that included the team’s first outright conference title since 1984 and its first tournament win at home since 1989.

“It’s really disappointing,” said Cal Poly sophomore outside hitter Kylie Atherstone, the Big West Conference Co-Player of the Year. “We worked so hard all season and we didn’t play our best. We didn’t finish it the way we would have liked to.”

Cal Poly (23-6, 13-1), which was seeded 15th among the 64 teams in the tournament and ranked No. 14 in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association/College Sports TV poll, committed a cluster of uncharacteristic errors.

Whereas No. 15 Cal (22-9) had four players in double-digits for kills, Cal Poly hit .040 for the match and had only one player – Atherstone – in double-digits for kills with 13.

“Very disappointed,” Stevenson said. “I don’t think we played well at all. Offensively, we were not good. We never got into any sort of offensive rhythm. There was never a point in the match where we were steady at all, and when you’re not steady against a quality team, you’re going to pay, and we paid. To hit barely above positive numbers, that’s not going to get it done ever.”

It certainly didn’t get it done Saturday, when the Mustangs hit .000 in the first game and were at -.036 after the second game.

“We expected more out of ourselves,” said outside hitter Candace Milton, one of two Cal Poly seniors and the lone graduating starter. “We just didn’t bring it tonight. (The Golden Bears) did have the momentum, but I also believe a lot of it was our errors. A lot of it was.”

The Mustangs actually had leads in each loss, albeit miniscule advantages.

Cal Poly led 1-0 in the first and fourth games and a 9-6 edge in the second game.

But a diversified offense kept bringing Cal back. Hana Cutura led all players with 18 kills. She was followed in kills by Cal teammates Angie Pressey (16), Morgan Beck (15) and Ellen Orchard (14).

Samantha Carter, Cal’s all-time leader in assists, had 62.

But the key for the Golden Bears was a defense that came up with 87 digs, including 31 from Jillian Davis.

“I think we did a great job of adjusting to some of the things that they did and doing some better things on our own at the same time,” Cal head coach Rich Keller said.

Stevenson echoed those sentiments.

“Cal was excellent on the floor,” Stevenson said. “They played great defense. They were very good.”

Freshman outside hitter Ashleigh Bertoni had seven kills and Milton and sophomore outside hitter Alicia Waller added six apiece for Cal Poly, which actually had more team blocks (16.5) than Cal (16).

Cal Poly junior setter Chelsea Hayes had 31 assists and 14 digs, junior libero Kristin Jackson had 23 digs and sophomore middle blocker Jaclyn Houston had eight of the Mustangs’ 31 blocks.

The Mustangs’ defense – which came up with 65 digs and held the Golden Bears to a .147 hitting percentage – was adequate, Stevenson said.

“To hold them to .147 hitting is a pretty good job,” he said. “They have a very potent offense and a good setter who distributes the ball very well. We didn’t put nearly the pressure on them that they put on us.”

But Stevenson reiterated that his team’s offense was what led to its downfall.

“Our offense was anemic,” he said. “There are axioms in volleyball. If you win the serve and serve-receive battle, you’ll win approximately 85 percent of the time. If you win that battle plus the outside hitter battle, you’ll win nearly 100 percent of the time. And we won neither. Those axioms came true.”

Stevenson, though, did not pin the loss on one player or another.

“It starts with serve-receive, and that’s absolutely a team function,” he said. “No one in particular let us down.”

Atherstone agreed.

“We weren’t our best in serve-receive, which is something we pride ourselves on,” she said. “Nothing was really flowing for us.”

In the first game, Cal Poly could not recover from deficits of 10-3 and 18-10, although it did get within 25-23.

After jumping to a 9-6 lead in the second game, the Mustangs allowed a 19-11 run. Cal Poly got within 26-25, but Cal rattled off four of the final five points.

“We played an extremely tough schedule,” Keller said. “When we face an opponent that pushes us, we’re used to that. We can push back.”

The Mustangs got within 11-9 and 20-17 in the fourth game before the Golden Bears closed the game and the match on a 10-3 run.

“They’re a quality team,” Stevenson said. “Should they beat us 30-20 in the fourth set? No. No way. Not with everything that’s on the line and how well we’ve practiced and how much this means to us.”

Three of the four teams in Cal Poly’s sub-regional were ranked in the top 16 of the AVCA/CSTV poll.

“I think this was probably the toughest sub-regional with teams matched up this close,” Keller said. “Probably every single one of these teams could have advanced. The two teams who lost (Friday) night could have advanced if they were in another sub-regional. I’m not going to question why things happen the way they do. I’m glad we’re advancing.”

As for the Mustangs, a historic season has come to a close. It included:

 Cal Poly’s first Big West title ever and its first outright conference crown of any kind since 1984, when it was part of the now-defunct Pacific Coast Athletic Association.

 The Mustangs’ 23 wins are their most since going 31-8 in 1985.

 Cal Poly entered a national ranking this year for the first time since 1999.

 The Mustangs earned their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2002 and their first tournament win since 2000.

 Although it lost the match, Cal Poly won a game in the second round of the tourney for the first time since a 3-2 loss to Hawaii in the 1989 Northwest Regional.

 The Mustangs had a school-record five players selected first-team all-conference.

Cal Poly had won 16 of its last 17 matches before Saturday, including three-game sweeps in 10 of its final 12 regular-season contests.

“I’m really proud of what we were able to accomplish,” Stevenson said. “You have to build on your successes. We’re not going anywhere but up. We got our feet wet, we won a round. Let’s learn from this. Next time we’ll be in this situation, we’ll be better prepared.”