Mustangs Go 2-1 at First Day of Big West Championships, One of Four Teams Remaining

Friday, April 21

Honolulu, HI

11 A.M.

CSU Bakersfield

Mustangs Go 2-1 at First Day of Big West Championships, One of Four Teams Remaining

4/21/2023 10:23:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

HONOLULU — Cal Poly beach volleyball collected wins over CSU Bakersfield (4-1) and CSUN (3-2) while losing to No. 8 Hawai'i (4-1) at the first day of the Big West Championships in Honolulu Friday to advance in the double-elimination tournament. The No. 2 pairing of sophomore Piper Ferch and freshman Izzy Martinez were Cal Poly's biggest bright spot, going a perfect 3-0 to push their record to 16-15 this season. The Mustangs (13-24) are now one of the four teams remaining in the Big West Championships. They find themselves in the 'elimination bracket' along with UC Davis. No. 8 Hawai'i and No. 11 Long Beach State are the two teams in the 'winners bracket' Cal Poly will face the Aggies in the semifinals of the elimination bracket Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PT/10:30 a.m. HT. The winner will move on to face the loser of the Hawai'i-Long Beach State match with a chance to advance to the title match. In order for the Mustangs to win their fourth straight Big West title, they will need to win twice in the championship match; something they did when they won the Big West championship in 2021. CSU Bakersfield Match

Jayelin Lombard, Piper Ferch Big West Championships — Jayelin Lombar and Piper Naess (14) Against CSU Bakersfield
At the Big West Championships Friday in Honolulu

In the first round Friday, No. 5 seed Cal Poly faced off against No. 4 seed CSU Bakersfield at Queen's Beach in Honolulu. Ferch and Martinez got Cal Poly on the board first, winning at the No. 2 spot 21-16, 21-17. The Mustangs' No. 4 duo of freshman Emma Zuffelato and senior Kalee Graff earned Cal Poly's second point of the contest after they won their match 21-15, 21-13. The duel was then clinched by the No. 1 pair of senior Jayelin Lombard and junior Piper Naess after they pulled out a 21-15, 22-20 win to put Cal Poly ahead 3-0. The No. 3 tandem of senior Delaney Peranich and graduate student Brooke Golik rounded out Cal Poly's 4-1 win after they won their match 21-19, 14-21, 15-2. Hawai'i Match The win over the Roadrunners propelled the Mustangs into a second round matchup with top seeded Hawai'i, who Cal Poly has faced in the championship match of each of the Big West Championships each of the last three years. The first sets at all five courts were all close, but the No. 8 Rainbow Wahine took the first games at four of the five spots. Hawai'i got things going with a win at the No. 5 spot. They then followed it up with wins at the No. 4 and No. 1 spots to clinch the duel victory.

Piper Ferch, Izzy Martinez Big West Championships — **Piper Ferch (left) and Izzy Martinez (right)**

Cal Poly's lone point came from Ferch and Martinez at the No. 2 spot as they won their match 22-20, 10-21, 15-10. CSUN Match The Mustangs' loss to Hawai'i sent them to the elimination bracket where they faced off against No. 6 seed CSUN with the loser being gone from the tournament. Ferch and Martinez put Cal Poly ahead 1-0 after they won their match at the No. 2 spot 21-19, 21-12. The Matadors then scored the next two points as they took courts 4 and 5 to take a 2-1 lead in the duel as the remaining two pairs, the 1's and the 3's, both went to third sets. The No. 1 pair for the Mustangs of Lombard and Naess came away with a 21-12, 18-21, 15-9 victory to tie it 2-2 which led to all eyes on the deciding third set at the No. 3 spot. In what was a battle the whole match at the No. 3 spot, Peranich and Golik won the first set 26-24 before coming up just short in the second 18-21. In the third, they found themselves trailing 11-10 before coming back to win it 16-14 and clinch the 3-2 victory for the Mustangs.