No. 7 UC Davis
Mustangs Open Big West Championships Thursday Against UC Davis
4/26/2023 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Riding the momentum of a thrilling road victory over UC Santa Barbara to end the regular season, Cal Poly women's tennis opens play in the Big West Championships on Thursday.
The second-seeded Mustangs (12-8) battle No. 7 seed UC Davis (8-13) at 9 a.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big West Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
On Saturday, Cal Poly took down the Gauchos in Santa Barbara for the first time since 2011, allowing the team to finish in a five-way tie for second place in the conference regular season standings with a 6-3 record. And thanks to a tiebreaker, the Mustangs secured the No. 2 seed in the Big West Championships for the second consecutive year. This is only the second time in program history Cal Poly has earned the second seed or higher in the conference tournament in back-to-back seasons.
The Mustangs have advanced to the final match in the Big West Championships the last two years and are seeking the program's second Big West title this week in San Diego.
After starting the season slow, Cal Poly has been on a tear, winning 11 of its last 14 matches and five of six entering the Big West Championships.
Sophomore Peyton Dunkle has played a huge part in the Mustangs' recent success. In Saturday's 4-3 victory at the Gauchos, Peyton won her fifth straight singles match, earning a dramatic 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) triumph at the No. 3 spot to clinch the dual victory for Cal Poly and improve to 10-6. Saturday marked the third time Peyton has clinched a match for the Mustangs this season.
Freshman Kennedy Buntrock has also been dominating on the court as of late, so much so that she was crowned Big West Women's Tennis Player of the Week on Tuesday for the first time in her career. Buntrock went undefeated in singles and doubles against the Gauchos. She rolled to her third straight singles win at the No. 5 spot and in doubles she teamed up with graduate student Kim Bhunu for a 6-4 victory at No. 2 as the pairing improved to 10-5 on the season and 6-2 against Big West foes.
Freshman Alexandra Ozerets etched her name in the Cal Poly history books Saturday, winning her 13th singles match, tied with seven others for the 20th-most singles victories in duals in a season in program history. Ozerets owns a team-best 13-4 singles record and is 6-1 at the No. 6 spot.
Ozerets and redshirt junior Delanie Dunkle have won their last two singles matches. Delanie and Peyton also own an 11-7 record at the No. 1 doubles spot this spring.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES: UC Davis ended the regular season this past Saturday with a 4-3 home loss to Long Beach State to finish with a 3-6 Big West record. The Aggies handed Hawai'i, the Big West regular season champion, its only loss in conference play this spring, beating them 4-2 inside the Spare Tire Indoor Tennis Center in Gold River on March 11. UC Davis is led by Yana Gurevich and Arianna Stavropoulos, who are 13-2 at the No. 1 doubles spot this season. Cal Poly squared off with the Aggies in Davis less than three weeks ago and walked away with a 4-3 victory thanks to straight-set singles wins from Melissa LaMette, Ozerets, Peyton and Bhunu. The Mustangs have emerged victorious in their last four meetings with UC Davis.
With a victory Thursday, Cal Poly would advance to the semifinals of the Big West Championships to face the winner of third-seeded UCSB and sixth-seeded CSUN at noon Friday.
Players Mentioned
