The Naess Family Legacy at Cal Poly
6/4/2024 2:48:00 PM | Baseball, Beach Volleyball
Story by Emma Gonosey, Cal Poly Athletics Communications Intern
The Naess family's connection to Cal Poly runs deep, with a legacy that spans across generations. For senior beach volleyball player Piper Naess and her brother Griffin, a freshman pitcher on the Mustang baseball team, the decision to attend their father's alma mater was an easy one, motivated by a shared passion for sports and academic success.
Piper and Griffin's father Coby Naess played basketball for the Mustangs from 1986 to 1990, while their mother Janelle played volleyball at Wichita State. With both of their parents being collegiate athletes, Piper and Griffin were taught at a young age the importance of balancing their athletic and academic lives. These skills have helped both Piper and Griffin manage their lives successfully at Cal Poly.
"Our mom is really big on academics," Piper said. "The biggest advice she would give us is to make sure you go to every class or to office hours and make sure you build a good relationship with your professors because that's gonna help you along the way." "Our dad would always just tell us to work hard," Griffin said. "He's big into studying, too."
The entire Naess family is extremely close-knit, especially with Coby, Piper and Griffin having shared the experience of being a student-athlete. Out of love for their family and for Cal Poly, Colby and Janelle travel from Laguna Beach to San Luis Obispo nearly every weekend to watch their children compete.
"Our parents come up every single weekend," Piper said. "They've probably only missed five games in my whole four years. I feel like our parents have really instilled being a team together [and] being a good support system. We try as much as possible to be there for each other."
Although Coby played and graduated from Cal Poly, Piper and Griffin never felt any pressure growing up to continue the Mustang legacy. However with both of his children playing for his alma mater, Coby has loved the chance to support his old school and regain a sense of Mustang pride.
"[Our dad] was really good about the recruitment process," Piper said. "He let us do what we were meant to do rather than really trying to [pressure] us. We were lucky that we got to be really independent. [Our parents] just really wanted us to have fun in college and make new experiences."
As Piper gets ready to graduate at the end of the year, she has enjoyed looking back on her time with the Mustangs and the memories she has made on the beach volleyball team. Piper was a crucial player on the Mustangs' roster during her four years at Cal Poly, earning First Team All-Big West honors during her junior season.
"Coming in I knew it was a top program so I wanted to play in the lineup a lot," Piper said. "I had goals for playing in the ones and twos, and it was funny because [at] our end of the season banquet, I was one of the only ones that my coach knew of that played in [every] lineup. So it was definitely cool to achieve that, [but] I just wanted to have a lot of fun."
While Piper does not plan to play competitively after graduating, she still hopes to play volleyball for fun. Griffin had an outstanding first season, becoming the first Cal Poly athlete to be named Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year. He had a perfect 7-0 record with a 3.58 ERA for the season. With all of the success Griffin had this year, his focus remains to get better.
"I don't have any super specific goals," Griffin said. "I just really want to improve every year."
Now that Griffin has joined his sister at Cal Poly, Piper and Griffin try to be a support system for one another whenever they can. With Piper's season coming to a close before Griffin's, she tries her best to attend his Sunday games and see her brother compete.
"It's a lot easier for me to come to [Griffin's] games," Piper said. "I love watching [his] games with my parents, and it's nice too because we get to go out to dinner with them after. Our whole family is just super close."
Overall, the Naess family has truly embodied the student-athlete experience at Cal Poly. Through the family's athletic successes, academic achievements and newfound family traditions, the Naess' will have a strong legacy at Cal Poly for years to come.
"Because our dad went here we heard a lot of stories about Cal Poly," Piper said. "It's somewhere that I really wanted to be and we've grown up visiting and hearing a lot about it. It definitely sparked my attention."
The Naess family's connection to Cal Poly runs deep, with a legacy that spans across generations. For senior beach volleyball player Piper Naess and her brother Griffin, a freshman pitcher on the Mustang baseball team, the decision to attend their father's alma mater was an easy one, motivated by a shared passion for sports and academic success.
Piper and Griffin's father Coby Naess played basketball for the Mustangs from 1986 to 1990, while their mother Janelle played volleyball at Wichita State. With both of their parents being collegiate athletes, Piper and Griffin were taught at a young age the importance of balancing their athletic and academic lives. These skills have helped both Piper and Griffin manage their lives successfully at Cal Poly.
"Our mom is really big on academics," Piper said. "The biggest advice she would give us is to make sure you go to every class or to office hours and make sure you build a good relationship with your professors because that's gonna help you along the way." "Our dad would always just tell us to work hard," Griffin said. "He's big into studying, too."
The entire Naess family is extremely close-knit, especially with Coby, Piper and Griffin having shared the experience of being a student-athlete. Out of love for their family and for Cal Poly, Colby and Janelle travel from Laguna Beach to San Luis Obispo nearly every weekend to watch their children compete.
"Our parents come up every single weekend," Piper said. "They've probably only missed five games in my whole four years. I feel like our parents have really instilled being a team together [and] being a good support system. We try as much as possible to be there for each other."
Although Coby played and graduated from Cal Poly, Piper and Griffin never felt any pressure growing up to continue the Mustang legacy. However with both of his children playing for his alma mater, Coby has loved the chance to support his old school and regain a sense of Mustang pride.
"[Our dad] was really good about the recruitment process," Piper said. "He let us do what we were meant to do rather than really trying to [pressure] us. We were lucky that we got to be really independent. [Our parents] just really wanted us to have fun in college and make new experiences."
As Piper gets ready to graduate at the end of the year, she has enjoyed looking back on her time with the Mustangs and the memories she has made on the beach volleyball team. Piper was a crucial player on the Mustangs' roster during her four years at Cal Poly, earning First Team All-Big West honors during her junior season.
"Coming in I knew it was a top program so I wanted to play in the lineup a lot," Piper said. "I had goals for playing in the ones and twos, and it was funny because [at] our end of the season banquet, I was one of the only ones that my coach knew of that played in [every] lineup. So it was definitely cool to achieve that, [but] I just wanted to have a lot of fun."
While Piper does not plan to play competitively after graduating, she still hopes to play volleyball for fun. Griffin had an outstanding first season, becoming the first Cal Poly athlete to be named Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year. He had a perfect 7-0 record with a 3.58 ERA for the season. With all of the success Griffin had this year, his focus remains to get better.
"I don't have any super specific goals," Griffin said. "I just really want to improve every year."
Now that Griffin has joined his sister at Cal Poly, Piper and Griffin try to be a support system for one another whenever they can. With Piper's season coming to a close before Griffin's, she tries her best to attend his Sunday games and see her brother compete.
"It's a lot easier for me to come to [Griffin's] games," Piper said. "I love watching [his] games with my parents, and it's nice too because we get to go out to dinner with them after. Our whole family is just super close."
Overall, the Naess family has truly embodied the student-athlete experience at Cal Poly. Through the family's athletic successes, academic achievements and newfound family traditions, the Naess' will have a strong legacy at Cal Poly for years to come.
"Because our dad went here we heard a lot of stories about Cal Poly," Piper said. "It's somewhere that I really wanted to be and we've grown up visiting and hearing a lot about it. It definitely sparked my attention."
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