The road to a third-consecutive Big West Conference title for the No. 25 Cal Poly volleyball program begins Friday, Sept. 26, as the Mustangs visit Cal State Fullerton for a 7 p.m. opening serve at Titan Gym. Cal Poly (5-6), which compiled a 28-2 aggregate conference mark en route to the 2006 and 2007 Big West titles, is attempting to become the first school since UC Santa Barbara (2002-04) and just the second program during the previous 13 seasons to capture three-straight league crowns. The conference-opening road trip concludes Saturday evening versus Cal State Northridge in The Matadome at 7 p.m.

ATHERSTONE EARNS 11TH BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR: Behind a two-match stretch in which she averaged 3.73 kills per set and hit .346 during Cal Poly’s slate at the program’s inaugural Mission Inn of Pismo Beach Invitational, Mustang senior opposite Kylie Atherstone earned her 11th career Big West Player of the Week honor Monday. Atherstone, whose Sept. 8 Player of the Week award established a new conference record, kickstarted the invitational against Saint Mary’s Sept. 18 with a season-best 21 kills and a match-high .450 hitting percentage. Two days later against No. 6 Stanford, Atherstone notched 17 kills and finalized her team-leading sixth double-double of the year with 11 digs. Atherstone, a two-time Big West Player of the Year selection, is once again spearheading Cal Poly’s offense. She enters Friday’s tilt at Cal State Fullerton ranked second among Big West players for kills (3.73) and aces (0.48) per set and is eighth with a .269 hitting percentage. Atherstone, who has reached double-digit kill figures during each match this season, has paced Cal Poly in kills a team-best nine times. Lethal at the net as well as from the serving line, Atherstone tied a career high with six aces during Cal Poly’s Sept. 5 sweep of Tulane.

CAL POLY’S BIG WEST WAKE: The Big West’s dominant force by any measure since fourth-year head coach Jon Stevenson’s 2005 arrival, Cal Poly has posted a 38-6 aggregate conference record during the previous three seasons while failing to finish lower than second place in the league standings. During those 44 Big West matches, Cal Poly has swept an opponent on 20 occasions without ever being whitewashed. The Mustangs have been even more adept against conference foes at Mott Gym, having lost just two Big West matches at home since 2005 and none since dropping a five-set match to UC Irvine Oct. 27, 2007. In capturing the 2006 Big West title and defending the crown in 2007, Cal Poly has won 96 of 117 sets against conference opposition. Since debuting in the conference and earning the program’s initial Big West title in 1984, Cal Poly holds a 168-125 (.573) record through 18 previous league seasons.

THRASH OF THE TITANS: Versus no conference school does Cal Poly hold a better winning percentage against than Cal State Fullerton, which has defeated the Mustangs just thrice in 44 attempts since the initial meeting between the two programs Nov. 15, 1979. Cal Poly, which swept Cal State Fullerton during both meetings last year, has dropped just three total sets against the Titans under Jon Stevenson. Even when the Mustangs posted a 5-24 mark in 2004, one of their victories came against Cal State Fullerton.

BIG WEST DÉJÀ VU: Five of Cal Poly’s six non-conference losses were suffered to programs that are ranked in the Sept. 22 edition of the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, but, for the second-straight season, the Mustangs will open the Big West portion of their schedule with a sub-.500 record. That distinction proved of little consequence for Cal Poly a year ago, as the Mustangs suffered just one conference loss and two overall defeats during the final 10 weeks of the 2007 campaign.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE: Since the start of the 2006 season, Cal Poly has been relegated from the top of the Big West table just once. A Sept. 29, 2007 loss at Pacific – Cal Poly’s first and only conference defeat last year – dropped the Mustangs’ Big West record to 3-1. That blemish, coupled with a 2-0 conference start by Cal State Fullerton, knocked Cal Poly from its Big West perch. Three days later, however, the Titans fell to Cal State Northridge, giving Cal Poly the lead via percentage points. Cal Poly led the 2006 Big West race wire-to-wire. Entering Friday’s match at Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly will have, since the start of the 2006 season, held at least a share of the Big West lead for 726 of the previous 729 calendar days.

MUSTANGS ON THE BALLOT (SEPT. 22): Despite dropping consecutive four-set home matches to Saint Mary’s (Sept. 18) and No. 6 Stanford (Sept. 20) – the first occurrence of back-to-back Mott Gym defeats under Jon Stevenson – Cal Poly still garnered 134 votes in the Sept. 22 edition of the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Mustangs, who dropped six positions from the previous week, have been ranked in 37-straight polls since appearing at No. 25 on Sept. 4, 2006. The Mustangs, whose preseason No. 10 ranking was the program’s highest in 22 years, finished 18 points behind No. 24 BYU and 44 ahead of unranked Santa Clara. Defending NCAA Tournament champion Penn State (12-0) retained the poll’s pole position after nabbing all 60 first-place votes and the maximum 1,500 total points. Nebraska (10-0), Texas (5-2), UCLA (10-1) and USC (7-2) complete the top-five ranked programs.

FORTRESS MOTT: When the Mustangs return to Mott Gym to face UC Davis Oct. 3, they will attempt to reverse an inauspicious distinction. Four-set losses to Saint Mary’s (Sept. 18) and No. 6 Stanford (Sept. 20) during the inaugural Mission Inn of Pismo Beach Invitational marked the first time Cal Poly had suffered consecutive home defeats since Jon Stevenson’s 2005 arrival. Despite the slide, Cal Poly still boasts a home-court dominance few Division I programs enjoy. Since 2005, Jon Stevenson-directed sides have suffered only six overall defeats, lost just two Big West matches and been both pushed to five sets and swept just once through 34 contests at Mott Gym.

MOTT GYM THE PLACE TO BE: Cal Poly’s four-set loss to No. 6 Stanford Sept. 20 unfolded in front of 2,917 spectators – the largest regular-season volleyball attendance figure at Mott Gym. That total merely marked the second time during a span of four home matches that the Mustangs had shattered the regular-season attendance mark, as 2,533 fans filed through the turnstiles for Cal Poly’s Sept. 5 encounter versus No. 2 Nebraska. In total, the top-five home attendance figures in Cal Poly volleyball history have been set since Dec. 1, 2006. The two largest volleyball attendance figures were both established on consecutive evenings during the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

CAL POLY A BATTLE-TESTED SIDE UNDER STEVENSON: Highlighted with visits to Mott Gym by 2007 NCAA Tournament runner-up Stanford and 2006 national champion Nebraska, Cal Poly’s 2008 schedule features 12 total matches against programs that were ranked or received votes in the preseason edition of the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. Additionally, Wichita State, unranked when it defeated Cal Poly during an Aug. 29 season-opening match, moved to No. 14 in the Sept. 22 edition of the AVCA poll. Excluding NCAA Tournament matches, Cal Poly is 5-10 against nationally ranked competition under Jon Stevenson.

ACES HIGH: One of the most-impressive feats by a Mustang this season helped freshman outside hitter Caitlin Smith stake a place among the Big West’s statistical leaders. Against No. 6 Stanford Sept. 20, Smith served five-straight aces during the second set. The quintuplet of points not only doubled her season total to 10, but also broke a 5-5 deadlock that helped Cal Poly earn its initial set victory against the Cardinal since Nov. 25, 1986. Smith enters Friday’s match at Cal State Fullerton ranked ninth among Big West players with 0.28 aces per set. Kylie Atherstone leads all Big West players with 21 aces and slots second behind a 0.48 per-game mark. Junior outside hitter Ashleigh Bertoni (0.32) ranks sixth.

CAL POLY’S NEW CATALYST: Entering the 2008 campaign, junior setter Hailey Fithian’s collegiate CV consisted of just 125 total assists through 34 sets. Showing little indication of inexperience, Fithian has already compiled 465 assists through 11 matches and, entering Friday’s contest versus Cal State Fullerton, ranks second among Big West athletes and 44th in Division I with 10.57 assists per set. Fithian, owner of five double-doubles, has twice this year bested her career single-match high for assists, topping out with 58 to help the Mustangs outlast Oklahoma in five sets Aug. 30.

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL MUSTANG: Through a month of action, senior middle blocker Jaclyn Houston has separated herself as the most-versatile player in the Big West. The conference’s second-leading hitter behind a .360 mark, Houston has committed just 18 errors through 11 matches and 197 attempts and is averaging 2.02 kills per set entering Friday’s matchup at Cal State Fullerton. Defensively, Houston – who owns two of the top-five blocking averages in Cal Poly single-season history – also ranks second among Big West players with 1.09 blocks per set and 48 total blocks.

LOOKING AHEAD (SEPT. 29-OCT. 5): Cal Poly opens the home portion of its Big West schedule Friday, Oct. 3 against UC Davis (8-5) at 7 p.m. The Aggies begin Big West play Wednesday at Pacific before hosting Long Beach State Saturday evening. The Mustangs’ two-match homestand continues versus Pacific (0-8) Saturday, Oct. 4. After facing UC Davis, the Tigers host Long Beach State Sept. 26. Under Jon Stevenson, Cal Poly has dropped just two sets through six combined home meetings against UC Davis and Pacific.