How Cal Poly Volleyball faired in their early season month long road trip
This is a cross-published piece with Mustang News, more information can be found here.
Cal Poly Women’s Volleyball has had some long road trips in their history, but not that many as long as their time away from home earlier this season.
After hosting the Mustang Invitational Tournament on Aug. 30 and 31 to open the season, the Mustangs went on the road for 10 straight games over the next 30 days.
Cal Poly Volleyball went on their most extended road trip since 2001. Being away from home and Mott Magic has had a toll on the team.
“We just had our practice in there for an hour and it’s a different vibe than I’ve felt in the last few matches,” head coach Caroline Walters said prior to their first home match back against UC Davis. “Not to say that we are not prepared and not locked in for our away matches but there’s a certain excitement that comes with playing in Mott.”
The team, coaches and staff have been able to use each other as support systems while they travel all over the country to play volleyball.
“It’s really hard being on the road a lot,” said redshirt junior setter Emme Bullis. “We all have a really close connection with each other and we’re all really close with our coaches as well. So we’ve just been doing a lot of checking in with our coaches while we’re on the road.”
However, the Mustangs thrived on the court while playing all these away games. Cal Poly won seven of its ten games, including dominant sweeps in back-to-back games, to end the road trip against CSUN and CSU Bakersfield.
Those matchups against CSUN and CSU Bakersfield were also their first two games of the Big West schedule.
Cal Poly finally returned home to play UC Davis on Oct. 4. Their last home game before that was on Aug. 31.
The road trip was highlighted by two players, Bullis and middle Breklyn Pulling.
In her third year as the Mustangs’ starting setter, Bullis is the team’s centerpiece, taking most of the second touches on every possession.
Bullis earned All-Big West honors last season, but she is hungry for more this season. With her 577 assists as of Oct. 9, Bullis is on pace to have one of the best seasons in Cal Poly history in terms of assists.
“I just expected to come in here and work hard,” Bullis said. “I’m honestly just honored to be on the same track as players like Taylor Nelson.”
Through 15 games, Bullis is 22nd in the nation for all Division 1 volleyball players for assists and across Division 1 in assists per set. Her 10.71 assists per set is also the best in the Big West.
Pulling is a big part of Bullis’ success. A transfer from Big West rivals CSU Bakersfield, Pulling is second on the team in kills, allowing the offense to diversify their attack.
With her .325 hitting percentage, which is sixth in the Big West, she adds a key piece to the offensive attack that has been heavily focused on the outside hitters in the past couple of seasons.
In their homecoming, the Mustangs lost to UC Davis on Oct. 4 and beat UC Riverside the next day.
Cal Poly currently stands tied for second in the Big West and are looking to make a late-season push to ensure their spot in the Big West Tournament.
