The Cal Poly beach volleyball team did something it has never done in its six-year program history by beating No. 6 Hawai’i for the first time Sunday, 3-2. The win capped off a 2-0 day for the No. 7 Mustangs (15-6) after a 5-0 win over UC Davis earlier in the day.
The two wins on the day for Cal Poly propelled the team to a 5-1 record for the Big West Challenge, tying them for the same record with both No. 6 Hawai’i and No. 9 Long Beach State. The Mustangs have also won 12 of their last 13 matches.
In the highly anticipated matchup with the SandBows (18-6), the Mustangs came out firing. The No. 1 pairing of sophomore Tia Miric and senior Crissy Jones put Cal Poly on the board first after a 21-13, 21-12 win over Emily Maglio and Amy Ozee, their best win of the season.
The Mustangs’ No. 2 pairing of sophomore Macy Gordon and junior Emily Sonny put Cal Poly up 2-0 shortly after with a 21-14, 21-16 win over Julia Scoles and Ari Homayun.
Hawai’i then responded with two wins at the third and fourth spots. At the No. 4 pairing, the SandBows’ Kylin Loker and Hi’ilawe Huddleston won in a close three-set match over freshman Jayelin Lombard and senior Kat Wright 19-21, 21-16, 15-13.
Tied at 2, the match came down to a deciding third set on court five by the pairing of senior Samantha Manley and freshman Delaney Peranich. Hawai’i took the first set 21-16 before Cal Poly won the second set 28-26. The third set went back-and-forth until, tied at 11, the Mustangs went on a 4-1 run to clinch the match for Cal Poly, 15-12.
Prior to Sunday, the Mustangs had been 0-6 against Hawai’i.
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Earlier in the day, Cal Poly took on UC Davis, winning 5-0 and dropping just one set in the match.
Jones and Miric picked up a win at the No. 1 spot in straight sets, 21-11, 21-13. Gordon and freshman Vanessa Roscoe also got a straight sets win at the No. 2 position, 21-10, 21-13. Lombard and Wright got their first win of the day at the No. 3 pairing with a 21-12, 21-12 victory.
At the No. 4 spot, Peranich and Manley won in three sets, 21-14, 16-21, 15-10 to go 2-0 for the day. Junior Heather Pembroke and sophomore Sjea Anderson rounded out the sweep with a 21-11, 21-7 win at the No. 5 position.
With the Big West Challenge now complete, Cal Poly will play the remainder of its matches on the road. Up next for the Mustangs is a weekend trip to the Phoenix, AZ area. There, they will play UAB, Grand Canyon, and Long Beach City College on Friday in a tournament hosted by GCU. They will then make the short drive over to Tempe, AZ Saturday for matches against Arizona State and Arizona.
–Provided by Cal Poly
