Mustangs begin homestand

Jon Stevenson saw something Monday he hadn’t seen in more than two years. For the first time since Sept. 4, 2006, his Cal Poly women’s volleyball team wasn’t in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll.

“I looked at it and saw we weren’t in the top 25 and walked off to gather myself because it was a moment that really hurt,” Stevenson said.

Cal Poly, which entered the season 10th, had fallen to 25th after a 5-6 start. It rose three spots after four consecutive Big West Conference wins, but dropped out after a 3-2 loss at Long Beach State on Friday.

“We worked hard as a group to get into that top 25 and we’re going to get right back in there,” Stevenson said. “How we react to this will say everything about where our program is going to be in the future.”

Clues foretelling that destination may be revealed more than ever over the Mustangs’ next four matches, which are all at Mott Gym – forming their longest homestand in four years.

It starts against UC Santa Barbara in what Stevenson said he expects to be “nothing less than just a full brawl” at 7 p.m. Thursday. That’s followed by UC Irvine on Saturday, Cal State Northridge on Oct. 24 and Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 25.

“The way the schedule maps out for us, I couldn’t ask for a better schedule,” Stevenson said.

In order to bounce back from what he called a “bitter” 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 15-9 loss, the Mustangs will need to address fundamental mistakes, such as committing 17 serving errors in the defeat.

“We need to prepare ourselves to play the tough points in a match better,” Stevenson said.

While Stevenson said the AVCA poll, which doesn’t directly determine postseason seeding, is “window dressing, in a way,” compared to the ratings percentage index (which more objectively takes into account strength of schedule), he added, “On a certain level, it hurts that we’re out.”

Five of Cal Poly’s losses came to teams currently ranked in the top 14.

“I think we have come to doubt ourselves in part because of a very difficult preseason,” Stevenson said.

Long Beach State (14-3, 4-1) found itself 24th Monday.

The 49ers edged UC Santa Barbara (7-9, 3-2) in five sets Saturday, but surely the win over Cal Poly (9-7, 4-1), the two-time defending Big West champion, turned more heads. It was just the Mustangs’ third conference loss over their past 35 Big West matches, and their first loss to Long Beach State since Oct. 1, 2005.

“We had established a dominance over Long Beach State down there and in conference in general,” Stevenson said. “I just had the sense that Long Beach expected us to come out and beat them, so that loss was a little bit more difficult to take.”

Senior middle blocker Jaclyn Houston could symbolize Cal Poly’s potential for a quick turnaround at home.

She had a match-high eight block assists at Long Beach State and needs two more to break the Cal Poly record of 499.

“It would’ve been quite bittersweet had she gotten the record in a five-set loss,” Stevenson said. “She didn’t break the record until the right time. It’s going to be the right time on our home court.”