Golden Gopher Invitational: Cal Poly, Ball State & St Thomas (Aug. 29, 30 & 31)

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Cal Poly Ranked Second in Big West, Bullis and Leluge Recognized - Cal Poly

Released by the Big West Conference on Thursday at noon, the Mustangs Volleyball program ranked second in the Preseason Coaches' Poll while setter Emme Bullis and
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Released by the Big West Conference on Thursday at noon, the Mustangs Volleyball program ranked second in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll while setter Emme Bullis and middle blocker Chloe Leluge were named to the seven-player Preseason Coaches’ Team.

Despite earning five first-place votes in the Preseason Coaches’ poll, tied with Hawai'i, the Mustangs were narrowly predicted to finish second, 92 points to the Rainbow Wahine's 94. UC Davis landed in third with 75 points, followed by a fourth-place prediction for UC Santa Barbara (73), which received the eleventh and final first-place vote. Long Beach State (68) completed the top five, with the remaining conference opponents all receiving under 60 points.

As the defending Big West Regular Season Champion, Cal Poly charges into the new season with immense momentum. Their dominant 2024 campaign (22-9, 14-4 BWC) was defined by a conference-best 10-3 road record and an astounding 15 straight-set sweeps. Now, the Mustangs are hungry for more than a repeat; they are on a mission to capture the playoff championship and an automatic NCAA Tournament bid that has eluded them since 2019
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Good to get the win against Cal Poly. Hanson was awesome (21 kills) and Swenson was great (48 assists, 14 digs and 7 kills!!). The first set was poor and the next 3 sets were good. After the first set, Crowl and Acevedo were replaced by the freshmen, Gilk (11 kills) and Kinney (9 kills), who were on fire and got the team going. Good play by the middle blockers and defensive players. The Gophers should learn a lot about rotations this weekend. Go Gophers.
 

In the first set, the Gopher attack was slow and messy allowing Cal Poly's blockers to get organized. It was fun when Swenson, later in the match, attacked the openings:

AND Palabiyik with a kill
 
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After set one the team looked good. Gilk and Kinney coming in and playing very well. I was disappointing with the block and it needs to improve fast. The middles looked good on offense, but until the fourth set they were non existent on the block. Is there a reason Jordan Taylor is not getting a chance to play?
 


I'm assuming that Noelle Van Oort for Ball State is Yvonne Wichert Van Oort's kid. So that's cool.
 

Good match for the Gophers against Ball State. They stayed comfortably ahead and didn't make many errors. They played 12 players and everyone played well. Acevedo had a big game (11 kills, 2 Aces) after a weak game against Cal Poly. Crowl did not play.
 



Acevedo delivered a nice service run in the third taking Minnesota from 2 down to, I think, five up. She was headed to the bench before Cook waved her to the service line
 


walleye said:
Good match for the Gophers against Ball State. They stayed comfortably ahead and didn't make many errors. They played 12 players and everyone played well. Acevedo had a big game (11 kills, 2 Aces) after a weak game against Cal Poly. Crowl did not play.
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I think Gilk will be the opposite going forward. More efficient and better power than Crowl. More concerned about Z’s injury. Could be a big blow to the team’s aspirations this year if the injury is serious.
walleye said:
Good match for the Gophers against Ball State. They stayed comfortably ahead and didn't make many errors. They played 12 players and everyone played well. Acevedo had a big game (11 kills, 2 Aces) after a weak game against Cal Poly. Crowl did not play.
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Challenging match and good win. St. Thomas brought their 'A' game. Gophers got to try lots of combinations and give new people experience. They had to regroup after Palabiyik went down with an injury. Tough break but a good learning experience. Kinney with11 kills and Acevedo with 3 aces and big service runs got the Gophers going in the 4th set. Hanson was superb as usual. Minatee, Taylor, and Myers had lots of kills and blocks. Defense made lots of digs. Hopefully, Palabiyik is not out long with her injury. She gives a 100% effort.
 




walleye said:
Challenging match and good win. St. Thomas brought their 'A' game. Gophers got to try lots of combinations and give new people experience. They had to regroup after Palabiyik went down with an injury. Tough break but a good learning experience. Kinney with11 kills and Acevedo with 3 aces and big service runs got the Gophers going in the 4th set. Hanson was superb as usual. Minatee, Taylor, and Myers had lots of kills and blocks. Defense made lots of digs. Hopefully, Palabiyik is not out long with her injury. She gives a 100% effort.
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Offense is much more diversified and it’s nice to see the middle production. Any guesses if we will see Olivia Swenson play this season?
 

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