As Cal Poly volleyball gets ready to take on first place U.C. Santa Barbara and second place Hawaii in Big West Conference play, the Mustangs are in search of two big wins through this tough stretch.
Without a single senior on the team, redshirt junior outside hitter Tommi Stockham is the closest thing the team has to the type of senior leadership needed to guide them through the Big West.
After transferring in from Indiana University in 2021, Stockham has been a staple of the Cal Poly attack and now in her third year, the outside hitter has become the go to weapon and leader on the court.
“Last season we lost two pretty big captains for us who had been around for five and six years respectivelyand they took up a lot of air in the room," Head Coach Caroline Walters laughed. " This group has had to find leaders and Tommi has stepped into that role nicely.”
“Being able to lead this team has been really fun," Stockham said. "It's a great group of girls that want to work hard and win so that itself is just very easy to deal with.”
In four separate times this season already, the cardiac Mustangs have won on reverse sweeps, proving that even though there is inexperience, the team does well under pressure.
“We've gone to five sets a lot and won a lot of five set matches," Stockham explained. "I think taking that confidence will just keep pumping our way up to the top of the conference."
While being young and naive has helped Cal Poly in certain stretches, it’s the veteran experience of playing in big matches in both the Big West and Big 10 that Stockham provides.
“Being a part of some really big matches in the past, she's someone that has a lot of like on court experience that these younger kids can rely upon as well,” Walters said.
The two time First Team All-Big West selection is coming off her fourth offensive player of the week and on Oct. 7 in a win against U.C. Riverside, surpassed 1,000 kills for her Cal Poly career but with still a year and a half of eligibility, the skies the limit for the remainder of her college career.
“I've only been here for three years, so I think it's a really cool opportunity and I mean, obviously I couldn't do it without all my teammates," Stockham stated. "I think it goes to show that they've helped me a lot in this journey.”
“She still has a year and a half to to pad those numbers and she's going to go down in Cal Poly as one of the best players to play here for sure,” Walters assured.
Stockham went on to say the goal is to win a Big West championship. The last time they did that was in 2018. This year is the first year of the Big West postseason tournament where the top six teams in the conference compete for the automatic bid. Two wins this weekend would certainly help their confidence and standing moving forward.
