2-1,0-0Big West
Arkansas State
0-3,0-0Sun Belt
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal Poly | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Arkansas St. | 15 | 20 | 23 | 0 |
Stangs Overwhelm Reigning Sun Belt Champs Arkansas State, Secure Second Sweep
8/30/2026 5:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Cal Poly extended its strong start to the 2026 season Sunday, sweeping reigning Sun Belt champion Arkansas State in straight sets (25-15, 25-20, 25-23) at Reed Arena.
The victory marks the Mustangs’ second sweep of the season. Improving their record to 2-1, the Mustangs bookended the Texas A&M Invitational with the win, having also blanked GCU in their season opener Friday.
Cal Poly hit a blistering .303 as a team while holding the Red Wolves to .150, recorded a perfect blocking line (7 total blocks, 0 errors), and sided out at a consistent 62.7%.
Transfer setter Alexis Haury dished out 34 assists, while junior outside hitter Kendall Beshear powered the pins with a match-high 14 kills on .406 hitting. Both Haury (30+ assists) and Beshear (10+ kills) reached those marks for the third straight match, and Beshear also co-led the team with two service aces.
Defensively, Cal Poly’s middles stymied Arkansas State, led by Charlotte Kelly’s four blocks and Breklyn Pulling’s three rejections. Libero Elif Hurriyet anchored the back row with 12 digs, and sophomore Maren O’Farrell added six.
The Mustangs’ serve pressure produced seven aces while limiting the Red Wolves to just four. Alongside Beshear, Emma Fredrick contributed nine kills, five digs, and two aces.
Cal Poly seized control early, breaking a 6-6 tie in the first set with a 9-1 run to go up 15-7 by the media timeout, including a six-point stretch behind Pulling’s serving. Arkansas State never recovered, and the Mustangs cruised to a 25-15 win.
The second set was tighter, but the Red Wolves led only once, at 2-1. Cal Poly used seven separate multi-point runs to take a two-set advantage, 25-20.
Arkansas State fought back in the third, leading 15-10 at the media timeout, but the Mustangs regrouped and chipped away. Trailing 20-23, Cal Poly rode a Haury service run through five points to flip the script, fueled by three Beshear kills, including the match-clincher, to seal a 25-23 victory.
The Mustangs return to San Luis Obispo with two sweeps in hand and hit the road again next weekend, though they’ll stay closer to home. They travel to UC Davis for a tournament against the host Aggies (Sept. 5, noon) and neutral-site San Diego State (Sept. 4, 1 p.m.).
