SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos volleyball team (1-3) will host the seventh-annual Cougar Classic this weekend, facing Westmont (3-1) at 1 p.m. and Azusa Pacific (2-2) at 6 p.m. on Friday before taking on Western Oregon (4-0) in the tournament finale at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
OPENING WEEKEND
- The Cougars went 1-3 in the PLNU/CSUSM San Diego Invitational in the first weekend of play in the 2024 season.
- In The Sports Center, CSUSM dropped a four-set match to Simon Fraser in its series opener on Thursday before being swept by Vanguard on Friday.
- The Cougars claimed a four-set victory over Chadron State on Saturday before falling in three sets to Point Loma in the tournament finale.
- Addison Kranz is averaging 3.79 kills per set while Isabelle Bakken is contributing 1.00 blocks per set.
BEHIND THE NUMBERS
- Following the opening weekend, the Cougars lead the CCAA in digs per set at 17.07 and are ranked third in blocks per set at 2.29.
- Addison Kranz's 10.86 attacks per set rank third in the conference while her 3.79 kills per set mark her sixth.
- Jackie Phillips and Mya Galvan are both in the top 10 in total digs in the CCAA, ranking fifth (50) and seventh (47), respectively.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON VS. WESTMONT
- CSUSM's Friday's match against Westmont will be the 10th meeting between the two teams with the Warriors leading the all-time series 6-3.
- The last time the Cougars and Warriors met was in 2016, the inaugural Cougar Classic and the first year of The Sports Center. CSUSM dropped a five-set heartbreaker (25-17, 19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 8-15) to Westmont.
- In their opening weekend, the Warriors went 3-1 in the Otter Classic with a season-opening loss to No. 9-nationally-ranked Nebraska Kearney (0-3) before registering three consecutive wins over host Cal State Monterey Bay (3-1), UC Merced (3-0) and Menlo (3-0).
- The Warriors are averaging 2.38 blocks per set, ranking them second in The PacWest Conference. Alexis Dennick and Taylor Distelberg are a large part of that with their third (1.15) and fourth (1.00) ranking in the conference in blocks per set.
- In its first official year of NCAA Division II, Westmont was picked to finish eighth in the 2024 PacWest Preseason Poll.
FRIDAY'S NIGHTCAP AGAINST APU
- Friday night's match marks only the fifth meeting between the two Cougar squads with APU leading the all-time series at 1-3.
- CSUSM recorded a sweep over APU in the only match played in The Sports Center, taking down the visiting Cougars 25-22, 25-23 and 25-17 in the Cougar Classic in 2019.
- APU went 2-2 in the opening weekend, sharing tournament hosting duties with Concordia University Irvine. Azusa registered a sweep over Northwest Nazarene in its season opener on Thursday before falling in four sets to Cal State Dominguez Hills and five sets to Alaska Fairbanks on Friday. The APU Cougars ended the weekend with a sweep over Ursuline (Ohio) on Saturday.
- APU added three NCAA Division I starters including Delaney Tate (UC Riverside) who is leading the team in kills per set (3.47) and aces (five) while former and current teammate Anya Green has tallied 20 blocks in the first four matches which rank her 26th in the nation.
- Azusa Pacific was picked to finish third in the 2024 PacWest Preseason Poll.
SATURDAY'S TOURNAMENT FINALE
- The Cougars and Wolves have only met once before back in 2017 at the D2 West Region Showcase in Monmouth when WOU took three straight.
- Western Oregon went 4-0 in its opening weekend at the Hawai'i Fall Volleyball Challenge, registering four-set victories over fellow CCAA opponent Cal Poly Humboldt and Bemidji State while recording five-set wins against Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii Hilo.
- Returning for her final season, Madison Hornback was named to the GNAC Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team and is averaging 3.20 kills per set after the first weekend.
- WOU was picked to finish third in the 2024 GNAC Preseason Poll.
LOOK INSIDE THE COUGARS
- The 2024 CSUSM roster consists of eight players competing in their final collegiate season with five being four-year members of the Cougar family – Mya Galvan, Alyssa Gurrola, Kelli Miechowicz, Jackie Phillips and Jessica Thomas.
- Two new Cougars will only play one season for CSUSM – Danielle McCasland, a graduate transfer from Concordia University Irvine, and Gracie Zaitz.
- Five others will be donning Cougar Blue for the first time on Thursday with three being true freshmen and two junior college transfers.
- The Cougars finished their 2023 campaign with a 12-15 overall record, were 10-8 in CCAA play and returned to the CCAA Tournament for the program's fifth appearance.
- As a team in the CCAA statistics, CSUSM concluded 2023 ranked seventh in blocks per set (1.93) while holding opponents to 1.74, the third lowest in the conference.
- In the 2024 CCAA Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll, the Cougars were picked to finish seventh.
THE LEONARD FILE
- Head coach Andrea Leonard enters her 14th season in charge of the Cougar volleyball team, a program she has built from the ground up since arriving on campus in 2010.
- Leonard has a 209-164 (.560) record as CSUSM's head coach.
- In 19 seasons as a collegiate head volleyball coach, Leonard holds a 301-290 (.509) career record.
- Leonard was CSUSM's first-ever CCAA Coach of the Year after guiding the Cougars to a third-place finish in the overall standings during the 2017 season.
