No. 12 Mustangs Win Two of Three Saturday to Wrap Up Big West Challenge

Saturday, March 26

Long Beach, CA

9:30 A.M.

CSU Bakersfield

Photo by: Kyle Calzia / Cal Poly Athletics

No. 12 Mustangs Win Two of Three Saturday to Wrap Up Big West Challenge

3/26/2022 7:59:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

LONG BEACH, Calif. — For the second straight day, the Cal Poly beach volleyball won two of its three matches at the final day of competition at the Big West Challenge in Long Beach. The No. 12 Mustangs beat both CSU Bakersfield and UC Davis by scores of 5-0 before narrowly falling to No. 9 Hawai'i, 3-2, in the day's finale. Cal Poly finishes the Big West Challenge with a 4-2 record for the weekend to move to 14-10 overall this season. Starting their day against the CSU Bakersfield, the Mustangs' No. 1 pairing of redshirt senior Tia Miric and freshman Ella Connor got a quick 21-12, 21-14 win to kick off the dual. The No. 3 duo of graduate Addison Hermstad and freshman Peyton Dueck were then victorious in their match at the No. 3 spot, 21-10, 21-15. The dual was officially clinched by Cal Poly's No. 4 pair of sophomores Sam Strah and Piper Naess after they recorded a 21-10, 23-21 win. The No. 5 tandem of redshirt junior Vanessa Roscoe and redshirt sophomore Josie Ulrich made it 4-0 after they picked up a 22-20, 21-15 victory. The sweep of the Roadrunners was finished off after the No. 2 pair of freshman Piper Ferch and redshirt junior Jayelin Lombard won in three sets, 22-20, 19-21, 15-13. ------------- Back at Rosie's Dog Beach a few hours later to face UC Davis, Cal Poly once again collected a sweep that was started off again by Miric and Connor at the No. 1 spot after they posted a dominant win in straight sets, 21-6, 21-11. Hermstad and Dueck then won at the No. 3 spot in straight sets, 21-10, 21-17 before the No. 5 pair of Roscoe and Ulrich clinched the dual for the Mustangs after winning 21-19, 21-12. Strah and Naess once again were victorious at the No. 4 spot after another win in straight sets, 21-19, 21-12. At the No. 2 spot, Ferch and Lombard again completed the sweep for Cal Poly after they had one of the more dominant wins by a Mustang pair this season, 21-18, 21-2. ---------------- In the final match of the day against one of their biggest rivals in the Big West the last few years, the Mustangs faced off against No. 9 Hawai'i, who finished the weekend 6-0. Cal Poly got off to a good start in the dual as the No. 3 pairing of Dueck and Hermstad put the Mustangs on the board first after they beat Anna Maidment and Sofia Russo, 21-18, 21-16. Lombard and Ferch then gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead after they beat Sarah Penner and Kylin Loker 21-19, 21-17 at the No. 2 spot. Hawai'i then got themselves on the board after their No. 4 pair of Jamie Santer and Megan Widener beat Strah and Naess, 21-18, 21-13. The Rainbow Wahine then tied the dual 2-2 after their No. 5 duo of Riley Wagoner and Ilihia Huddleston took down Roscoe and Ulrich, 21-18, 22-20. Hawai'i's No. 1 pair of Brooke Van Sickle and Kaylee Glagau were then able to pull out a 23-21, 21-16 win over Miric and Connor to clinch the 3-2 dual victory. Cal Poly will head up to Palo Alto next weekend where they will face off against Santa Clara, No. 8 Stanford, Saint Mary's, and UC Davis.