No. 6 Mustangs Come Up Just Short in Pair of Matches Against Top Five Teams Saturday

Saturday, April 17

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

2 P.M.

UCLA

Photo by: Kyle Calzia / Mustang News

No. 6 Mustangs Come Up Just Short in Pair of Matches Against Top Five Teams Saturday

4/17/2021 9:29:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The No. 1 and No. 2 pairings for the Cal Poly beach volleyball team won both of their matches on the day but the Cal Poly beach volleyball dropped two tightly contested matches Saturday to No. 1 UCLA and No. 5 Loyola Marymount to wrap up the second annual Center of Effort Beach Volleyball Challenge at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex.

The No. 6 Mustangs (17-8) fell to the No. 1 Bruins (24-2) and the No. 5 Lions (22-6) by scores of 2-3 in both dual matches.

In the first match of the day against the defending national champion Bruins, two of the five matches went to three sets.

UCLA's No. 5 pair of Jaden Whitmarsh and Rileigh Powers started by winning their match over redshirt freshman Josie Ulrich and redshirt sophomore Vanessa Roscoe 21-10, 21-8. Macy Gordon

The Bruins' No. 4 duo of Cami Sanchez and Jacqueline Quade then beat freshman Sam Strah and redshirt sophomore Eleonore Johansen 21-18, 21-11 to give UCLA a 2-0 lead.

Cal Poly got on the board a short time later after the No. 1 pairing of redshirt junior Macy Gordon and redshirt senior Emily Sonny beat UCLA's Savvy Simo and Lexy Denaburg in straight sets 21-16, 21-19.

The Bruins' No. 3 pair of Devon Newberry and Lea Monkhouse later clinched the win for UCLA after winning in three sets over redshirt juniors Tia Miric and Mariah Whalen 23-25, 21-14, 15-8.

Cal Poly's No. 2 flight of grad transfer Amy Ozee and redshirt sophomore Jayelin Lombard were able to pull out a three set battle of a win over Abby Van Winkle and Megan Muret to finish out the match. Ozee and Lombard took the first set 21-19 before UCLA took the second set 21-19 to force a third. In a back-and-forth third set, the two teams traded points until tied at 21, Ozee and Lombard were able to win two straight points and get the 23-21 win to earn Cal Poly's second point of the match.

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A couple hours later, the Mustangs were back on the sand to face No. 5 LMU for another tightly contested match with a dramatic ending.

Amy Ozee

This time, Lombard and Ozee put Cal Poly on the board first after beating Iya Lindahl and Megan Rice in straight sets at the No. 2 spot 21-14, 21-14. Ozee and Lombard finished the Center of Effort Challenge 3-1 to improve their overall record together this season 16-8.

The Lions evened the score after the No. 5 pairing of Darby Dunn and Jacinda Ramirez took down the duo of Johansen and freshman Piper Naess 21-14, 21-16.

LMU then took a 2-1 lead after the No. 3 duo of Jessie Prichard and Savannah Slattery got a win over Miric and Whalen 21-17, 21-15.

The Mustangs tied it a short time later thanks to Gordon and Sonny pulling out a close match in straight sets at the No. 1 flight over Reka Orsi Toth and Selina Marolf 21-19, 23-21. They also finished the Center of Effort Challenge 3-1 to push their record this season to a team-leading 18-6.

It all came down to both teams No. 4 pairs with Cal Poly's duo of Strah and redshirt sophomore Delaney Peranich playing together for just the second time this season. LMU's Emma Doud and Madi Firnett took the first set 21-14. Strah and Peranich battled in the second set with both pairs going back-and-forth until LMU was able to pull it out 26-24 to clinch the 3-2 victory.

The Mustangs will wrap up the regular season next Saturday, April 24 with a pair of home matches at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. They will start by taking on Santa Clara at 5 p.m. followed by Saint Mary's at 7 p.m.

Photos courtesy of Kyle Calzia