27-8,14-4Big West
Kentucky
28-2,15-0SEC
Cal Poly's Historic, Cinderella Run Ends in Sweet 16
12/11/2025 4:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Cal Poly volleyball team saw one of its most successful seasons in program history come to a close Thursday inside University of Kentucky’s Memorial Coliseum.
The Mustangs fell to No. 1 seed Kentucky in three sets (25-18, 25-19, 25-7) in the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament and the semifinals of the Lexington Regional.
The Cinderella story of the NCAA Tournament and the lone unseeded team in the Sweet Sixteen, Cal Poly made a name for itself nationally with an unprecedented run that will never be forgotten.
“All good things must come to an end … and just overwhelming gratitude for this journey,” head coach Caroline Walters said after the match. “This has been an amazing, amazing time for us these past few weeks. A whirlwind of gratitude to represent Cal Poly on a national stage. We're hearing from people all over the country, and it's just been incredible to represent not only our great university, but mid majors in general, and to be here in a Sweet 16 competing against an amazing university in a beautiful facility.”
Making its seventh Sweet 16 appearance all-time, second under the current 64-team format and first since 2007, the Mustangs certainly left their mark in the history books and created a lifetime of memories.
“I just think us seniors will hold on to this forever,” senior London Haberfield said after the match. “We're just so happy that we could put Cal Poly on the map. As a senior, and leaving that legacy behind, that's something that you dream about. So just riding that high, I'm going to ride it for the rest of my life. Just the past few weeks being in the tournament, it's just so amazing. I'm just so grateful for every single one of these people.”
In Thursday’s match at Kentucky — who is on a 25-match winning streak — junior Emma Fredrick finished with a team-high 11 kills, sophomore Elif Hurriyet recorded nine digs and three aces, and redshirt senior Emme Bullis tallied 23 assists, ending her career ranked No. 2 in Cal Poly history in assists.
Cal Poly finishes the season with a 27-8 overall record, the most under coach Walters and the program’s highest win total since 2017.
As the two seed in the Big West Championship, the Mustangs dominated host Long Beach State before decisively defeating top-seed UC Davis to secure the program’s 18th NCAA postseason appearance all-time and first since 2019. The conference title was Cal Poly’s seventh in the Division I era.
Cal Poly posted a perfect 15-0 at home this season, and have won 19 straight inside Mott Athletics Center dating back to last season, the second-longest home win streak in program history.
The Mustangs upended No. 5 seed BYU and No. 4 seed USC last week in Los Angeles to secure their spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
For Bullis, this team and this journey means everything to her.
“I just think it's something that will forever be with us,” she said. “It's all of our hard work, but also our teammates hard work and the people that are behind the scenes that got us here. I mean, we've been playing volleyball since we were 11 and it's our senior year, it's lined up perfectly and we're going out on such a high. I'm just thankful to be around these people and be able to hold these memories in a frame somewhere in my house someday.”
