Mustangs' Historic Run in NCAA Championship Ends Saturday with Loss to UCLA

Saturday, May 8

Gulf Shores, Ala.

12:30 P.M.

UCLA

Tia Miric, Mariah Whalen NCAA Championships 2021

Photo by: NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Mustangs' Historic Run in NCAA Championship Ends Saturday with Loss to UCLA

5/8/2021 2:48:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Cal Poly beach volleyball team's historic run in the NCAA Championship came to an end Saturday in Gulf Shores, Ala., falling to No. 1 seed UCLA 0-3.

Despite the score, it was a close battle at all five courts as six of the eight sets that were finished were decided by two points.

The defending national champion Bruins started the match by winning in straight sets at the No. 4 spot. Cal Poly's Sam Strah and Eleonore Johansen pushed UCLA in each set but lost 16-21, 19-21. They end the 2021 season with a 12-9 record together.

UCLA picked up its second point of the dual at the No. 2 spot, winning in two tightly contested sets over Jayelin Lombard and Amy Ozee 22-20, 21-17. Ozee and Lombard finish the season with a 22-12 record, the second-most wins on the team.

The Bruins clinched the dual after getting a win at the No. 5 position over Josie Ulrich and Vanessa Roscoe, with both sets decided by two points 21-19, 21-19. They end the season with a 14-13 record together.

In the other two matches that went unfinished, Macy Gordon and Emily Sonny just missed taking the first set at the No. 1 spot, dropping it 19-21 and were tied 15-15 in the second set when the dual was called. Gordon and Sonny end the year with a team-best 23-10 record together and as the second-winningest pair in program history.

At the No. 3 spot, the duo of Tia Miric and Mariah Whalen also barely lost their first set 19-21 and were trailing 15-17 at the time the dual was called. Miric and Whalen finished the season with a 16-8 record, the third-most wins on the team this year.

Despite the loss, 2021 was still a historic season for the Mustangs. They won the program's first NCAA Championship match after beating Stanford Friday 3-2, won 20+ matches for the third time in program history after finishing with a 24-11 overall record, were ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA rankings the entire season, won its second straight Big West Championship and were selected to its second NCAA Championship.