MATCH NOTES
- Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo (RV) def. Wichita State (RV) 3-2 (23-25, 21-25. 28-26, 25-16, 15-7)
- Cal Poly moves to 7-2; Wichita State drops to 7-2
- Nike Classic, Eugene, Oregon
- Box Score
In a battle between two schools on the cusp of Top 25 recognition, the Cal Poly Mustangs fought off two match points in the third to defeat the Wichita State Shockers in a five-set thriller.
Two Mustangs recorded double-doubles: sophomore outside and UCLA transfer Torrey Van Winden (30 kills, 16 digs) and her older sister, junior outside Adlee Van Winden (22 kills, 19 digs). Taylor Nelson dished out 74 assists for Cal Poly, a new career-high for the senior setter.
Wichita State junior outside Tabitha Brown also recorded a double-double (23 kills, 10 digs) and senior Emily Hiebert became just the fourth Shocker setter in school history to record 4,000 career assists.
In set one, Cal Poly established a 23-22 advantage before the Shockers answered with three straight points, punctuated by a double block by Hiebert and freshman middle Emma Wright. The second set was knotted at 19 before the Shockers recorded five straight points to gain separation on their way to a 25-19 victory.
It looked like the Shockers would earn the straight-set victory after back-to-back Tabitha Brown kills gave Wichita State a 24-23 edge in the third, but back-to-back kills by Torrey Van Winden gave Cal Poly the 28-26 deuce set victory. With momentum clearly shifting to the Mustangs, Cal Poly won the fourth and fifth sets by comfortable margins to complete the thrilling comeback.
Wichita State hosts the Shocker Volleyball Classic next weekend, where they’ll face #7 Creighton and Iowa State (RV). Cal Poly travels to Green Bay, Wisconsin to take on IUPUI, Wisconsin-Green Bay and North Dakota.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Cal Poly SLO Athletics
Cal Poly Upsets No. 23 Wichita State in Comeback Victory
EUGENE, Ore. — The Cal Poly volleyball team came back despite losing the first two sets of their match, winning the final three to upset No. 23 Wichita State thanks to career and season-highs from multiple Mustang players.
The Mustangs, now 7-2 on the year, won the match 25-23, 25-21, 28-26, 25-16, 15-9.
The early part of the first set was back-and-forth until Wichita State (7-2) scored three straight points on two Mustang attack errors and a service ace to go up 12-8. The Mustangs would rally with a run of their own down 14-9, going on a 6-1 run to tie it at 15.
The teams would continue to trade points until, as Cal Poly led 23-22, the Shockers scored three straight points to win the set.
The second set began with Wichita State scoring the first four points before a Savannah Niemen kill got the Mustangs on the board. A Cal Poly 3-0 run would get them its first lead of the set at 12-11.
Tied at 19, Wichita State scored 5 straight points to go up 24-19 and would go on to win 25-21.
A wild third set saw 20 ties and 9 lead changes.
Tied at 18, Cal Poly scored 3 straight points to go up 21-18. The Mustangs would hold off two match points the Shockers had before back-to-back Torrey Van Winden kills to win the set 28-26.
The sophomore transfer set a new career-high for single-game kills with 30; fifth highest-kill match in the country this year. She also hit .348 for the match and had 16 digs.
The Mustangs came out red-hot in the fourth set; scoring the first four points behind three Torrey Van Winden kills (she would go on to have nine in the set). It would be the most dominant set of the match by either team as Cal Poly hit .528 for the set.
They would take their biggest lead of set at 21-13 and never look back as a Nikki Jackson kill would win the set for the Mustangs 25-16.
It would be a back-and-forth final set before Cal Poly took a 5-4 lead behind two kills by senior Raeann Greisen. The Mustangs would take an 8-7 lead as the teams switched sides.
They would then go on a 5-1 run to go up 13-18. A Niemen kill would end the set and the match to complete the comeback for Cal Poly.
Junior outside hitter Adlee Van Winden had a season-high 22 kills and 19 digs for the Mustangs. Senior setter Taylor Nelson set a new career-high with 74 assists. Sophomore middle blocker Nikki Jackson also set a new career-high with 8 kills. Junior libero Katherine Brouker led Cal Poly in digs with a season-high 21.
The Shockers were led by Tabitha Brown who had 23 kills, hitting .420 and 10 digs. Abbie Lehman chipped in with 15 kills and six blocks.
The win gives Cal Poly its third victory over a ranked opponent in the last three seasons.
Taylor Nelson and Torrey Van Winden were named to the Nike Classic all-tournament team.
The Mustangs finished 2-1 in the tournament. They will continue tournament play away from home next weekend in the Green Bay Country Inn & Suites Classic. They will take on North Dakota and IUPUI on Friday followed by host school Green Bay on Saturday.
Courtesy: Wichita State Athletics
Cal Poly Comes Back to Beat Shockers, 3-2
EUGENE, Ore. – Cal Poly came from behind to defeat No. 23 Wichita State 3-2 at the Nike Classic. The Mustangs won by scores of 23-25, 21-25, 28-26, 25-16 and 15-9.
Tabitha Brown led the Shockers with 23 kills and 10 digs and hit .420. Abbie Lehman added 15 kills, while Emily Hiebert had 53 assists and Giorgia Civita had a career-high 31 digs.
SET 1:
• The Shockers won a back and forth first set 25-23
• WSU used kills from Lehman and Wright for a 6-3 lead
• A Koon service ace pushed the lead to 12-8
• Kills from Lehman and Brown put WSU up 14-9
• Cal Poly responded with a 7-1 run to tie it at 15
• The Mustangs took a 23-22 lead, but the Shockers scored the final three points to win 25-23
• WSU hit .364 in the set
SET 2:
• WSU pulled away late for the 25-21 win
• The Shockers raced out to a 4-0 lead, but Cal Poly came back to take a 13-11 lead
• WSU tied it at 13 on a Brown kill and Wright/Raudsepp block
• The two teams traded points until kills from Brown and Koon gave WSU a 22-19 lead
• WSU reached set point at 24-19 on a Smith/Brown block and won 25-21 on a Mustang service error
• During the set, Emily Hiebert collected her 4,000th career assist, the fourth Shocker to reach that milestone
SET 3:
• Cal Poly fought off two match points and won 28-26
• The set went back and forth until the Shockers used a Raudsepp/Smith block to take a 10-8 lead
• The Mustangs used a 3-0 run to go in front 13-12
• WSU took a timeout with Cal Poly up 22-20, but the Shockers answered with two points to tie it at 22
• The Shockers reached match point at 24-23 after back-to-back kills from Brown, but Cal Poly scored five of the last seven points for a 28-26 win
SET 4:
• Cal Poly ran away with a 25-16 win
• The Mustangs jumped out to a 4-0 lead
• Kills from Wright and Hinrichs pulled WSU within 8-6
• A 5-1 run from the Mustangs pushed the lead to 13-7
• Back to back Shocker hitting errors gave Cal Poly a 21-13 lead
SET 5:
• The Mustangs pulled away late for the 15-9 win
• The Shockers took a 3-1 lead on a kill from Lehman
• A 3-0 run by the Mustangs gave them a 5-4 lead
• A 4-0 Cal Poly run pushed the lead to 10-7
NEXT MATCH:
• WSU hosts the Shocker Volleyball Classic, Sept. 15-17, in Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers face No. 9 Creighton at 7 p.m. on Sept. 15 and face No. 22 Iowa State at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 17
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