23-7,14-4Big West
UC Irvine
13-17,8-10Big West
Cal Poly Volleyball Wraps Regular Season with Loss in Irvine
11/22/2025 4:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. — Cal Poly (23-7, 14-4 Big West) fought hard to end the regular season on a high note but fell to UC Irvine in straight sets on Saturday afternoon.
After finishing the regular season with 14 conference wins for the fourth straight year, the Mustangs guaranteed themselves at least a share of second place in the standings and the No. 2 seed in next week's Big West Championship.
The Mustangs' offense struggled to find consistency, finishing with its lowest single-match hitting percentage of the season (.125). Despite the hitting woes, the defense was stout, recording a season-high 61 digs for a three-set match while holding UC Irvine to a .167 clip.
The first two sets featured 20 tie scores and seven lead changes, creating a back-and-forth battle as the teams traded runs. However, UC Irvine found its best offense late in each set, winning both by identical 25-23 scores.
The Anteaters closed out the match decisively, never allowing Cal Poly to lead or tie in the final set. The Mustangs got no closer than five points as the Anteaters took the set 25-11.
Emme Bullis tallied 34 assists to maintain her weekend average of 11.33 per set. She also added 11 digs for a double-double. Elif Hurriyet led the dig effort with 13, supported by Bullis, Kendall Beshear (11), and London Haberfield (11).
Chloe Leluge was the only Mustang in double-digit kills (10) and notched a pair of blocks, as did Beshear and Charlotte Kelly.
In the current conference standings, UC Davis (1) and Cal Poly (2) are locked into the top two seeds. Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara are battling for the third and fourth seeds, while CSUN (5) is also locked in place. The final postseason spot is between Hawai’i and UC Irvine.
The Big West Championship begins next week over the Thanksgiving holiday. With a first-round bye, Cal Poly will not play until Friday. The tournament schedule runs from Wednesday through Saturday.
