Mustangs Host Gauchos Saturday in a Battle for the Big West Title

Saturday, April 23

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

1:30 P.M.

UCSB

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Mustangs Host Gauchos Saturday in a Battle for the Big West Title

4/20/2022 12:27:00 PM | Women's Tennis

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The blue-green rivalry takes center stage this weekend as the Cal Poly women's tennis team hosts UCSB to compete for the title of Big West regular season champion. The duel begins at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 at Mustang Tennis Complex. For fans not able to attend in person, live stats will be available to follow along. That link can be found on the women's tennis schedule page of GoPoly.com If the Mustangs, who jumped up in the national rankings this week to No. 65, prevail, it will be their first regular season championship in eleven years. In 2011 Cal Poly earned the title of Big West regular season co-champions with Long Beach State. They are seeking to go undefeated in Big West play for the first time in program history. Last weekend Cal Poly (15-5, 8-0 BWC) swept two Big West opponents, UC Irvine on Friday 7-0 and No. 64 Cal State Fullerton 4-2 on the road. In those two matches, freshman Peyton Dunkle (13-3) didn't drop a single match. At the No. 6 spot, Peyton defeated UC Irvine 6-0, 6-0 and Cal State Fullerton 6-4, 6-0. Redshirt sophomore and Peyton's older sister, Delanie Dunkle (12-6) is on a ten-match winning streak at the No. 5 spot. On a two-match winning streak is redshirt junior and No. 1 singles player Kim Bhunu at 12-7. The No. 2 doubles duo of redshirt sophomores Delanie Dunkle and Melissa LaMette (10-3) are on a four-match winning streak. The No. 3 doubles duo of graduate student Laura Bente and Peyton Dunkle are 9-1. Bhunu and her partner redshirt junior Emily Ackerman are 14-5 at the No. 1 spot. The No. 25 Gauchos (16-6), who have won the Big West regular season title three consecutive seasons, are on a seven-match winning streak. The last time Cal Poly beat UCSB was in 2014 by a margin of 4-3. Prior to the start of the match there is going to be a special announcement regarding the future of Cal Poly Tennis. After Saturday the Mustangs begin preparing for the Big West Conference Tournament which runs April 27-30 in San Diego