Cal Poly Opens Big West Championships Friday Against CSU Bakersfield

Friday, April 21

Honolulu, HI

11 A.M.

CSU Bakersfield

Photo by: Kayla Stuart | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Opens Big West Championships Friday Against CSU Bakersfield

4/19/2023 2:27:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly beach volleyball will begin its defense of the Big West crown this week as the Big West Championships get underway Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22 at Queen's Beach in Honolulu. The Mustangs (11-23), who have won three straight Big West titles, will head into this year's double-elimination tournament as the No. 5 seed and will take on the No. 4 seed CSU Bakersfield Friday at 8 a.m. HT/11 a.m. PT in the first round. If the Mustangs beat the Roadrunners (16-8), they will move on to face top seeded No. 8 Hawai'i Friday at 11:45 a.m. HT/2:45 a.m. PT. If Cal Poly loses, they will move to the elimination bracket and play at 3:30 p.m. HT/6:30 p.m. PT. Live scoring will be available for fans to follow for all the matches. Links to those can be found on the beach volleyball schedule page or the Big West's tournament central page. The host Rainbow Wahine (26-6), ranked eighth in the nation, are the top seed in the tournament. No. 11 Long Beach State is the No. 2 seed, UC Davis is the No. 3 seed, CSU Bakersfield is the No. 4 seed, CSUN is the No. 6 seed, and Sacramento State is the No. 7 seed. The Mustangs will be seeking to win their fourth straight Big West title this year after winning their third in a row last year when they were the No. 3 seed in the tournament as the host school. In the six years since the Big West added beach volleyball, Cal Poly and Hawai'i have combined to win the title all six times. The Rainbow Wahine won it the first three years and the Mustangs have won it the last three. Cal Poly has battled through a ton of adversity this season with multiple players sidelined due to injury. However, one of those players who has dealt with injuries this season, Brooke Golik, is part of a pair that is playing their best volleyball of the season heading into the Big West Championships. Golik and senior Delaney Peranich have won six straight matches, which includes going 4-0 last weekend against pairs from ranked teams. Playing at the No. 3 spot this year, they have a team-leading record of 16-8. The Mustangs' No. 2 pair of senior Jayelin Lombard and junior Piper Naess have the second-best record on the team at 15-13. They are Cal Poly's most experienced pair, with Lombard ranking third in program history for career wins with 89 and is a three-time All-Big West honoree. Cal Poly's typical No. 1 pair this season has been one of the youngest duos on the team in freshman Izzy Martinez and sophomore Piper Ferch. They are 13-15 this season, with all but three of those played at the No. 1 spot. The Mustangs will be very familiar with whoever they face this weekend as they have played every team at least once during the regular season. They faced Hawai'i three times, Long Beach State four times, UC Davis twice, and CSU Bakersfield twice. This season, they are 1-1 against both CSU Bakersfield and UC Davis, are 0-3 against Hawai'i, 0-4 against Long Beach State, and 1-0 against both CSUN and Sac State. For the second straight year, The winner of the Big West Championships receives an automatic berth into the 16 team NCAA Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala. which take place May 5-7.