Cal Poly Opens Mustang Invitational With Wins over No. 20 Tulane, UC Davis

Saturday, April 1

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

3:30 P.M.

UC Davis

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Opens Mustang Invitational With Wins over No. 20 Tulane, UC Davis

4/1/2023 9:24:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly beach volleyball picked up right where it ended last weekend, collecting a pair of 3-2 wins over both No. 20 Tulane and UC Davis Saturday to begin the Mustang Invitational at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. For the Mustangs (9-17), the win over the No. 20 Green Wave was their first win over a ranked opponent this season. For the day, Cal Poly's No. 1 pair of Piper Ferch and Izzy Martinez as well as the No. 2 pair of Jayelin Lombard and Piper Naess both went 2-0. In the first match of the day against the Aggies, Lombard and Naess got the Mustangs on the board first after winning their match at the No. 2 spot 21-14, 21-17. It was then the No. 5 duo of freshman Emma Zuffelato and senior Kalee Graff getting a 21-8, 21-8 victory to put Cal Poly in front 2-0. Ferch and Martinez later clinched the dual for the Mustangs after winning 21-17, 21-15 at the No. 1 spot. A few hours later, Cal Poly was back to face No. 20 Tulane. Before the match, the Mustangs honored the 2022 Big West title-winning team with a ring ceremony to celebrate Cal Poly's third straight Big West championship last season. Once the match got going, the Green Wave scored the first point with a win at the No. 4 point after Cal Poly's pair was forced to forfeit due to an injury to junior Julia Soeller. The Mustangs' No. 3 pair of seniors Delaney Peranich and Brooke Golik evened up the dual for Cal Poly after winning their match 21-17, 21-12. They are now 10-6 on the year together. Tulane took a 2-1 lead in the dual after they won at the No. 5 spot. Cal Poly's comeback started with the No. 1 pair of Ferch and Martinez coming back after dropping the first set to win their match 18-21, 21-16, 15-12. They have now won five straight matches and are 11-9. It then all came down to a third game at the No. 2 spot for Cal Poly's Lombard and Naess. After two close games in which they won the first 23-21 and dropped the second 19-21, they bounced back to win the third 15-9 and clinch the upset victory for the Mustangs. Lombard and Naess are also now 11-9 and have four wins in a row. Cal Poly wraps up the Mustang Invitational Sunday with two matches, both against ranked teams. The first is at 12:30 p.m. against No. 13 Washington before finishing with No. 9 Cal at 3 p.m.