No. 18 Mustangs Knock Off No. 8 Cal at First Day of Battle for LA

Friday, March 1

Los Angeles, CA

12 P.M.

UCLA

No. 18 Mustangs Knock Off No. 8 Cal at First Day of Battle for LA

3/1/2024 6:48:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

LOS ANGELES — Cal Poly beach volleyball made waves during the first day of competition at the Battle for LA after knocking off No. 8 Cal in dramatic fashion 3-2. The No. 18 Mustangs (5-1) took down the No. 8 Golden Bears after falling to No. 1 UCLA, 4-1 in their first match of the day. It was a strong showing for Cal Poly graduate transfer Lindsey Sparks, who returned to the courts of her former school UCLA to notch two wins on the day with freshman Quinn Perry at the No. 3 spot, including the match-clinching point against Cal. No. 1 UCLA recap: The Mustangs came close to also knocking off the No. 1 Bruins as three of the matches went to three sets. Sparks and Perry however were the only Cal Poly pair to pick up a win as they defeated UCLA's Tessa Van Winkle and Jaden Whitmarsh 21-19, 21-19. Cal Poly's No. 4 pair of Piper Naess and Logan Walter came up just short in their third set that went to extra points, 22-20. The No. 1 pair of Ella Connor and Izzy Martinez also came close in their third set but fell 15-12. The No. 5 duo of juniors Abbey Reinard and Madison Nichols also went extra points in the third but fell 18-16. No. 8 Cal recap: The Mustangs started off strong against the Golden Bears, taking a 2-0 lead after Naess and Walter won at the No. 4 spot and Piper Ferch and Erin Inskeep won at the No. 2 spot. Cal then tied it after a win at the No. 5 spot followed by a three-set victory at the No. 1 spot. It all came down to a third set at the No. 3 spot for Sparks and Perry. After going back-and-forth, the Mustang tandem led 14-13 before Perry came up with a clutch kill to seal the upset of the Golden Bears. Cal Poly will look to grab more wins over ranked teams Saturday as they face last year's national champion in No. 3 USC at 10 a.m. before taking on No. 14 Grand Canyon at 2 p.m.