Cal Poly Volleyball added on two more sweeps over the weekend, accounting for a total of 15 straight home game wins after defeating both UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton.
The victories bring the team to 12 sweeps this season and increases their conference record to 6-2. They sit third in the Big West closely behind Long Beach State and undefeated UC Davis.
The win moved the Mustangs’ overall record to 15-5; the last time the team lost a game at home was back in October of last year.
Friday night sweep
The Mustangs started their weekend off in a competitive manner on Friday facing UC Irvine and delivering a three-set sweep (25-21, 25-19, 25-14).
Before the match on Friday, sophomore outside hitter Kendall Beshear, who is a pivotal starter on the team, got into a bicycle incident.
“It was a freak thing,” Beshear said. “I ride my bike every day but riding home from practice something got caught in the wheel, I flipped over the handlebars.”
Beshear’s injury required a hospital visit and stitches, preventing her from playing in the match. While Beshear’s injury left a hole in the lineup to fill, head coach Caroline Walters wasted no time bumping freshman outside hitter Aveya Stone to fill Beshear’s shoes.
“It was definitely a little bit stressful because it was so last minute,” Stone said. “I didn’t know until literally 30 minutes before the game but at the end of the day I was nervous, but I had the confidence that I would be able to do a good job and do my job.”
Stone racked up a career high of seven kills and recorded a block to add to both the team’s offensive and defensive performances.
“It was super fun, super exciting,” Stone said. “My teammates are literally the best people ever. Everyone was hyping me up, letting me know I was doing my job because it was a big deal for me to step into that role.”
Cal Poly dominated throughout the entire match by holding the lead and only facing eight ties throughout all three sets.
They had their best offensive performance of the night in the third set with a hitting percentage of 0.44. They also stepped up on defense in the third set with four blocks, holding the Anteaters at a negative hitting percentage of –0.067 in that set.
Junior outside hitter Emma Fredrick was head of the offense with nine kills while Charlotte Kelly had an impressive .545 hitting percentage. On the defensive end, sophomore libero Elif Hurriyet led once again with 11 digs.
Beshear leads Mustangs to second sweep
Continuing with the team’s momentum on Saturday, the Mustangs took on Cal State Fullerton in a three set sweep.
After facing an injury the day before, Beshear came back just a day later to perform against Fullerton and lead the offense with 14 kills.
“I love volleyball,” Beshear said. “If I got cleared, there was no way in hell I was going to sit on the bench. I’m lucky I woke up this morning not feeling anything, my lips a little busted but just put some padding on it.”
The game started neck-and-neck with the first set consisting of 13 ties and three lead changes. While the Titans had their best offensive performance of the night during set one, the Mustangs went on a 4-0 run at the end of the set to secure a 25-17 win.
The Titans came back late in the second set with a 4-0 run of their own and forcing a 20-20 tie. The set continued with three ties, but the Mustangs managed to pull out a tight win of 25-23.
A key aspect of set two’s tight margin was the Mustangs serves, as they had six service errors while the Titan’s only had three. Cal Poly cleaned up their act in the third set and dominated in a 25-15 win that took less than 30 minutes.
Fredrick was a notable offensive player with 13 kills and a .414 hitting percentage. She added to the team’s defense with nine digs.
“We just did a good job at doing our jobs and not letting the other teams take control of the game,” Fredrick said.
Cal Poly will look to extend their winning streak on the road as they face UC Riverside at the SRC Arena in Riverside on Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.