12-5,3-2Big West
UC Santa Barbara
11-6,3-2Big West
Mustangs Retain Blue-Green Bragging Rights in Five-Set Win
10/7/2025 11:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Mustangs redeemed themselves after a tough weekend by earning a five-set victory (16-25, 25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 15-12) over Blue-Green rivals UC Santa Barbara at Mott Athletics Center on Tuesday evening.
Cal Poly (12-5, 3-2 BWC) fought back from a disastrous first set to secure its third consecutive victory over the Gauchos after sweeping last season’s matchups.
“It’s always nice to beat UC Santa Barbara,” Head Coach Caroline Walters said. “Especially after our last two matches, to come back and rebound the way we did gives our group a lot of confidence.”
Emma Fredrick delivered one of her best performances of the season, tallying a match-leading 17 kills on a .295 hitting percentage while adding seven digs.
Kendal Beshear recorded her fifth-straight match with double-digit kills (15) and added 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Beshear also landed three aces with her powerful jump serve.
Annabelle Thalken enjoyed a hitting resurgence with a .368 clip after a few tough outings.
True freshman Charlotte Kelly shined at the net once again, recording multiple blocks for a fourth straight match and resetting her career-high (6) for the second consecutive match.
Elif Hurriyet stepped up in a major way, tallying a personal season-high 18 digs.
The first set never went Cal Poly’s way, as UC Santa Barbara built a wide margin well before the media timeout. A 7-2 Gaucho run mid-set put the Mustangs in a hole they couldn't climb out of, dropping the opening frame 16-25.
The Mustangs responded decisively in the second set. After a back-and-forth start, Cal Poly pulled ahead 15-13 at the media timeout and never looked back. A five-point run capped by a pair of UCSB errors and kills from Fredrick sealed the set 25-18 and evened the match.
Cal Poly took the third set 25-22 to go ahead in the match, overcoming multiple UCSB leads. The set, which featured 13 ties and six lead changes, was ultimately steadied by three final points from Cal Poly.
UCSB led for most of the fourth set. Despite Cal Poly tying the match at times, the Gauchos found momentum to pull away. Although the Mustangs hit an impressive .500 as a team, UC Santa Barbara edged them out with a .609 clip to win 25-20 and force a fifth set.
The Gauchos jumped to an immediate 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but the Mustangs rallied. The teams traded small runs of points, and despite UCSB clawing back to within one at 13-12, Cal Poly scored the final two points to seal the rivalry win.
With the victory, the Mustangs leapfrogged UCSB in the conference standings and now sit in third place ahead of a road trip to Hawai’i (6-9, 2-2 BWC).
