Poly readies for Big West play

The Cal Poly volleyball team will play its first home game in Mott Gym versus Long Beach State this Friday and will follow up with a match against Cal State Northridge Saturday, opening up its defense of the Big West Conference title.

Standing at No. 20 with a 6-6 record, Cal Poly will challenge the Long Beach State 49ers (6-4) at 7 p.m. The game against the Northridge Matadors (3-9) is at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The start time for Saturday’s game against Cal State Northridge was changed from 7 p.m. so fans could see it in addition to the 6:05 p.m. Mustang football game against Western Oregon at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Last season, the 49ers were the runners-up in the Big West Conference while Cal Poly took the Matadors in a win for the program’s first conference title in 22 years.

The Mustangs have been runners-up in the Big West three times before.

The 49ers earned 74 points in the Sept. 17 edition of the AVCA/CSTV Coaches Poll, putting them near the top 25. The team fell in the ranks after losing to four ranked teams, including No. 18 San Diego, No. 2 Stanford and No. 8 Washington. However, LBSU leads the all-time series 27-12. Reigning Big West Player of the Week Alex Crimes leads the conference with and average of 4.86 kills per game.

The Matadors, on the other hand have dropped five straight matches this season. The team has been swept by No. 4 USC, No. 5 UCLA, Washington, Duke and San Diego. Freshman Alex Johnson leads the Matadors with 2.6 kills per game.

This weekend’s standout Mustang is senior libero Kristin Jackson, who broke the Big West Conference record for career digs. With 1,785 digs since 2004, Jackson only needs 215 to join the mere 24 players in Division I history to accrue 2,000 digs.

“At 5-feet-4 or 5-feet-5 (inches), she is so impressive,” said head coach Jon Stevenson. “Even some people in sports can’t imagine what it takes to accomplish what she has.”

Jackson said she is excited to play at home because the team has been on the road for so long.

“We miss our fans,” she said. “Long Beach probably will be the toughest team we’ll face in conference, but we’ll have the home court advantage. Friday will be the start of a new chapter for us.”

Also at the head of the team are junior Kylie Atherstone, who was the Big West Co-Player of the Year last season and reached double-digit kills in nine of Cal Poly’s 12 matches, and junior Ali Waller, a strong offensive player among the top three team members in kills, digs and blocks per game.

Four of the 12 Mustang matches played this year have been against schools ranked in the top nine of the AVCA/CSTV Division I poll, including No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Penn State and No. 9 BYU.

Stevenson, who is coaching in his third season, is known for playing the team against the top college programs. With Cal Poly having been in the top 20 for a year straight, he feels confident in doing so.

“They are a talented group, but it’s a question of whether or not they will have the attitude to do everything to win and leave nothing behind,” he said. “What I’d like them to do is put on a show because when it gets really intense, they are very entertaining and can get the crowd into the game.”

Stevenson is content with the team’s achievements. “I feel blessed to represent this school. Even though it’s tough, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”