Junior Torrey Van Winden had a season-high 29 kills, hit .344 and recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 14 digs while also adding four blocks to lead the Cal Poly volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 27-25) win Saturday in front of an electric sold out crowd at Mott Athletics Center.
The No. 13 Mustangs (16-1, 6-0 BWC) extended their winning streak to 15 matches, their record-breaking home winning streak to 17 matches and extends their Big West winning streak to 23 matches going back to 2016.
Senior Adlee Van Winden recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 13 digs. Junior Jessica McRoskey was the third leading scorer on the team with six kills and added three blocks. Senior libero Katherine Brouker dug a match-high 26 balls and freshman setter Avalon DeNecochea dished out a match-high 49 assists.
The win is the third straight for Cal Poly over the Rainbow Wahine (9-6, 5-1 BWC), the first time in program history the Mustangs have beat Hawai’i three straight times after they won both matches last season.
Both teams came out strong to begin the first set, trading points with neither team holding a lead more than three for the first 38 points. Up 20-18, Cal Poly a kill by Torrey Van Winden, followed by a Hawai’i attack error and a Mustang block, Cal Poly took a 23-18 lead and force the Rainbow Wahine to call timeout. Up 24-19 after trading points, another kill from Torrey Van Winden sealed the set for the Mustangs 25-19. In the set, Cal Poly held Hawai’i to a match-low .085 hitting percentage.
The Mustangs got out to a fast start to begin the second set. They opened the set taking a 6-2 lead. The Rainbow Wahine rallied back to eventually tie it at 9. Tied at 10, Cal Poly went on a 7-3 run to take a 17-13 lead. The Mustangs never gave the lead back from there. The closest Hawai’i was able to cut the lead to was 20-17. From that point, the Mustangs closed the set on a 5-1 run to take the second set 25-18.
Hawai’i flipped the script from the second set to open the third set, getting out to a 7-3 lead. Cal Poly then rallied to cut the lead to 9-7. Tied at 16 later in the set, the Rainbow Wahine used a 4-1 run to take a 20-17 lead. Up 21-19, two kills and a service ace by Hawai’i’s McKenna Granato extended its lead to 24-19. Cal Poly then scored back-to-back points of its own but another Rainbow Wahine kill finished off the set for them 25-21 to force a fourth set. The third set was the only set Hawai’i outhit Cal Poly, .250 to .207.
The teams saved the most exciting set for last. The fourth set was close early on, with neither team sporting a lead more than three until, with Cal Poly up 18-16, the Mustangs scored three straight points to take their largest lead of the set 21-16. The Rainbow Wahine then responded with a 5-1 run to cut the lead to 22-21. Up 23-22, a service error by Hawai’i gave Cal Poly match-point. The Rainbow Wahine then got a kill, followed by an attack error by Mustang freshman Meredith Phillips to tie it at 24. Hawai’i then took a 25-24 lead after a kill by Sarah Liva. Cal Poly responded with back-to-back kills by Phillips to take a 26-25 lead. A bad set called by the referees on the Rainbow Wahine’s Norene Iosia ended the match with the Mustangs taking set four 27-25 for the 3-1 win.
Cal Poly was better in every statistical category than Hawai’i except assists. They outhit the Rainbow Wahine .257 to .179 and won in blocks 10 to nine.
The Mustangs now sit alone atop the Big West standings at 6-0. They will finish out their four-match homestand next Friday, October 12 at 7 p.m. when they host UC Santa Barbara for the first Blue-Green rivalry match of the season.
–Provided by Cal Poly
