No. 5 Mustangs Win Both Matches of Sunday Home Opener

Sunday, March 21

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

10 A.M.

Boise State

No. 5 Mustangs Win Both Matches of Sunday Home Opener

3/21/2021 5:02:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The fifth-ranked Cal Poly beach volleyball team pushed its winning streak to five matches after defeating both visiting Boise State and No. 15 Arizona Sunday in its 2021 home opener at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex.

The No. 5 Mustangs (8-3) started the day by taking down the Broncos (2-4) 5-0 before handing the No. 15 Wildcats (7-1) their first loss of the season by a score of 3-2.

Against Boise State, Cal Poly's No. 2 pair of grad transfer Amy Ozee and redshirt sophomore Jayelin Lombard (pictured) beat Joey Benson and Sedona Hansen 21-17, 21-14 to put the Mustangs on the board.

The No. 4 duo of freshman Sam Strah and redshirt sophomore Eleonore Johansen then put Cal Poly ahead 2-0 after a 21-15, 21-19 win over Kaylee Mejia and Sierra Land. Strah and Johansen are now 4-1 together this season.

The match was later clinched by the No. 1 pair of redshirt senior Emily Sonny and redshirt junior Macy Gordon after they put on a stellar performance to defeat Evi Wilson and Erin Martin 21-18, 21-9.

Playing together for the first time, the No. 5 pairing of redshirt sophomores Delaney Peranich and Kalee Graff won their match over Ellie McDonald and Kylee Johnson 21-15, 21-17.

The 5-0 victory was then clinched by the No. 3 pairing of redshirt juniors Mariah Whalen and Tia Miric 21-16, 21-19 over Liz Melita and Rori Chartier. After Sunday, Whalen and Miric are now 2-2 together this season.

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About 15 minutes later, Cal Poly was back on the sand to face the No. 15 Wildcats.

Once again, Lombard and Ozee kicked things off with an impressive 21-12, 21-11 win over Brooke Burling and Alana Rennie. With the two wins Sunday, Lombard and Ozee are now 6-4 together this season.

After Arizona won at the No. 4 spot to tie the match 1-1, the Mustangs' No. 5 pair of redshirt sophomore Vanessa Roscoe and redshirt freshman Josie Ulrich defeated Olivia Hallaran and Shelby O'Neal 21-17, 21-19 to put Cal Poly ahead 2-1. Roscoe and Ulrich are now 4-4 as a duo this season.

Soon after, the No. 1 pair of Sonny and Gordon rolled through Sarah Blacker and Alex Parkhurt 21-14, 21-13 to clinch the match for Cal Poly. Sonny and Gordon have now won four matches in a row and are a team-best 7-3 together this season.

Arizona then picked up a three-set win at the No. 3 spot to make the final score 3-2 in favor of the Mustangs.

Cal Poly is now 4-0 in its career at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex since it opened last season.

The Mustangs will look to keep things rolling at home next weekend when they host all but one of the rest of the teams in the Big West for two days of matches at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. Cal Poly will face CSU Bakersfield, UC Davis, and No. 18 Long Beach State on Friday and CSUN as well as No. 6 Hawai'i on Saturday.