Mustangs Open NCAA Tournament Wednesday Against Florida State

Wednesday, May 4

Gulf Shores, AL

1 P.M.

Florida State

Photo by: Kyle Calzia / Cal Poly Athletics

Mustangs Open NCAA Tournament Wednesday Against Florida State

5/2/2022 8:36:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

GULF SHORES, Ala. – Head coach Todd Rogers and the Cal Poly beach volleyball program are no strangers to competing in the NCAA Tournament. This is the third straight year the Mustangs are competing in Gulf Shores, Ala. and for he and a majority of the players who have competed in it the last two years, they know what to expect and how hard it is to win. The No. 12 seed Mustangs (23-16) will face No. 5 seed Florida State in the first round of the tournament Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. in Gulf Shores) with the match airing live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com with the winner advancing to play Friday at 8 a.m. PT (10 a.m. in Gulf Shores) for the start of the double-elimination format against the winner of No. 4 seed LMU and No. 13 seed Hawai'i. Cal Poly is very familiar with the Seminoles (28-9). The Mustangs have played them twice already this year, falling 5-0 the first weekend of the season in Tallahassee and just getting edged out 3-2 on April 15 in San Luis Obispo. They are seeking the program's first ever win over Florida State as they are 0-7 all-time against them. At last year's NCAA Tournament, Cal Poly beat Stanford 3-2 to earn the program's first NCAA Tournament win. The 1-5 pairs for the Mustangs come into the tournament with a wide range of experience. There are three freshmen, a sophomore, two redshirt seniors, a graduate student, a redshirt junior, a redshirt sophomore. Four of them are experiencing the NCAA Tournament for the first time while the other six all were apart of last year's team. The No. 1-3 pairs have been steady all season long even with a freshman being featured in each of them. At the No. 1 spot, redshirt senior Tia Miric and freshman Ella Connor have the best record on the team at 26-12. Their 26 wins rank second most in a single season by a Cal Poly pair with the record being 29. They have beat No. 1 pairs from 10 Top-20 teams, including Florida State's. They also had the championship-clinching win over Hawai'i in last weekend's Big West Tournament. Last week, both were named AVCA First Team All-Americans. For Miric, it's her third time being named an All-American, becoming the first Cal Poly player to earn it three times. Connor became just the second freshman in Cal Poly history to be named an All-American after Miric was the first in 2018. Miric is one of the most decorated players in program history. Her accolades include being a three-time First Team All-Conference honoree, 2019 Big West Pair of the Year with Crissy Jones, and ranks second in program history for career wins with 97. At the No. 2 spot, redshirt junior Jayelin Lombard and freshman Piper Ferch have the second most wins on the team at 22-17 and are the only other pair besides Miric and Connor to have played solely with each other this season. For Lombard, this will be her third time playing in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 3 pair of graduate transfer Addison Hermstad and freshman Peyton Dueck have the best winning percentage on the team by a pair who have played at least 10 matches together at 21-5. At one point during the season, they went on a 10-match win streak and during last week's Big West Tournament they were 4-0. For both Hermstad and Dueck, this will be their first experience at the NCAA Tournament. The No. 4 duo is relatively new pairing to the lineup with redshirt senior Mariah Whalen and sophomore Piper Naess. They are a perfect 5-0 so far this season as a pair, including going 4-0 at last weekend's Big West Tournament. After recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, Whalen was not able to return to the Cal Poly lineup until April 2. For Naess, who was 6-6 as a freshman last year, is 16-9 with six different partners this year. Last year, Whalen earned First Team All-Conference honors while partnering with Tia Miric. This will be her second time playing in the NCAA Tournament while it will be the first for Naess. At the No. 5 spot is a familiar pairing for Cal Poly fans the last two seasons. Redshirt junior Vanessa Roscoe and redshirt sophomore Josie Ulrich will once again be the No. 5 pair at this year's NCAA Tournament. Last year, the duo had the match-clinching win to seal Cal Poly's 3-2 win over Stanford in the NCAA Tournament. This year, they have a record of 7-10 and a career record together of 21-23.