After solidifying its third straight season with at least 20 wins last weekend, six Cal Poly volleyball players earned All-Big West recognition for their 2019 season performances, the conference announced Tuesday afternoon.
Junior outside hitter Maia Dvoracek, sophomore setter Avalon DeNecochea, and sophomore middle blocker Meredith Phillips all received First Team All-Big West honors. Senior libero Mika Dickson, senior outside hitter Jessica McRoskey, and junior middle blocker Madilyn Mercer each received Honorable Mention All-Big West honors.
For Dvoracek, DeNecochea, and Phillips, this is the first time any of them have been named First Team All-Big West. Last season, both DeNecochea and Phillips received honorable mention honors.
It is also the first time Dickson and McRoskey have earned All-Big West honors. This is the third year in a row for Mercer after receiving honorable mention honors as a freshman and first team honors last season.
In her first season as a six-rotation player, Dvoracek played in every set and started every match during the regular season as she led the Mustangs and was second in the Big West in kills with 4.30 per set. She’s also been one of the best servers in the nation, leading the Big West with 63 aces, good for .62 per set. Her .62 aces per set average is good for third best in the country while her 63 aces currently rank fifth in the nation. Defensively, she finished the regular season averaging 2.20 digs per set and .45 blocks per set. She ended the regular season having recorded double figure kills in 18 straight matches and having notched at least 20 kills in seven matches, including a career-high 30 in a five-set win over No. 16 Utah. She also recorded six double-doubles and was named Big West Player of the Week five times, the most by a Mustang in a single season since Kylie Atherstone won six times in 2007. In conference matches, she led the Big West with 5.09 kills per set while hitting .320 and had double-digit kills in all 16 matches.
After winning Big West Co-Freshman of the Year last season, DeNecochea had a strong sophomore campaign directing the Cal Poly offense to a .225 hitting percentage while averaging 9.50 assists per set after starting every match and playing in all 102 sets during the regular season. She also finished tied for fourth in the Big West and second on the team in service aces with .30 per set and 31 total. She also finished the regular season third on the team in blocks per set with .60 and fourth in digs with 1.60 per set. During the regular season, she had 10 matches in which she finished with at least 40 assists and had two matches recording double-doubles. In conference matches alone, she led the Big West in assists with 10.76 per set and was third in total aces with 18.
Phillips had the second-most kills on the team, finishing the regular season with a 1.80 per set average while hitting a team-best .306 (eighth in the Big West) as she started all but one match and played in all 102 sets during the regular season. She led the team and was seventh in the Big West in blocks with .95 per set. She had five matches of at least five total blocks, including a career-high 12 in a win over Pepperdine. She also had four matches collecting double-digit kills, including a career-high 13 in a win over Northern Colorado. In 16 conference matches, she hit .375, fourth-highest in the Big West.
Dickson earned All-Big West honors for the first time after leading Cal Poly with 3.59 digs per set, good for fifth-highest in the conference after playing in all 102 sets during the regular season. She recorded double-figure digs in 21 of matches during the regular season, including a career-high 22 in a sweep over UC Irvine on Sept. 28 which helped her earn her first career Big West Defensive Player of the Week award. She also ended the regular season tied for second on team and fourth in the conference in aces at .30 per set with 31 total.
McRoskey garnered All-Big West honors for the first time after finishing with the second-highest kills per set average on the team during the regular season at 1.84. She had double-digit kills in four matches, including a career-high 13 in a five-set win over UC Davis. This season, she has recorded the most kills she has had in a season during her four-year career, finishing the regular season with a total of 118.
Mercer started every match and played in all 102 possible sets during the regular season as she finished fourth on the team in kills per set at 1.75 and second in blocks at .93 per set. Her .93 blocks per set average ranks ninth in the Big West. She also had a .299 hitting percentage during the regular season which ranks 10th in the conference. She had double figure kills in three matches and had at least five total blocks seven times.
Cal Poly finished the regular season second place in the Big West with a 20-8 overall record and 13-3 conference record. The Mustangs also went undefeated at home for the third consecutive season to extend their nation’s-longest home winning streak to 32 matches.
-Provided by Cal Poly
