Cal Poly Beach Volleyball took their first loss of the year during the first day of Battle for LA to No. 2 ranked UCLA as three of the five courts of play went to a third set.
Coming off four straight victories at the Third Coast College Classic, the Mustangs (4-1) had built some early momentum into their season, as they notably rotated pairs and only dropped one set for the entire weekend. Going into this tournament, it was clear that Cal Poly’s schedule was bound to test them in a way that the previous four matches hadn’t.
At the Battle for LA, the Mustangs were set to face off the two teams that currently sandwiched them in the AVCA rankings: No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 USC. Head coach Todd Rogers knew that facing the national semi- and quarter-finalists from last year in the sand would be a different level of play from the weekend prior.
“We are going to have to definitely still bump our game up another notch,” said Rogers. “We are playing two of the best teams in the country.”
However, the highly anticipated matchup had to wait as Cal Poly opened their Battle for LA against Boise State.
The Mustangs starting lineup was the same pair as their last match where they swept Southern Mississippi in straight sets. The only change was that junior Erin Inskeep and redshirt-senior Ella Connor, the reigning Big West Pair of the Week, were moved back up to the No. 1 pair as senior Izzy Martinez and junior Logan Walter were moved back down to the No. 2 pair.
Cal Poly started off their weekend on a high note as all five pairs swept Boise State in straight sets. The No. 3 pair with senior Julia Westby and senior Ashleigh Adams had the most dominant performance of the Mustangs, as they beat the Broncos 21-12 in both sets.
Both Inskeep and Connor at the No. 1 pair and the No. 4 pair of junior Quinn Perry and Elise Lenahan took one of their sets into extra points, as Inskeep and Connor closed out set two 23-21, while Perry and Lenahan took set one 22-20 against Boise State.
The real test for Cal Poly came in their second match of the day as they faced the team just a single spot clear of them in the national rankings. Even with two losses to start the season to No. 13 Hawai’i and No. 1 Stanford, UCLA (5-2) still held the No. 2 spot over Cal Poly’s No. 3.
With the Mustangs coming in with the same lineup from the prior match that day, it was clear from the first serve that the two teams were evenly matched, going point for point in the sand.
The No. 2 pair of Martinez and Walter took the first set off the Bruins 21-16, and the No. 4 pair, Perry and Lenahan, followed suit as they won their first set 21-15.
The No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 pairs for Cal Poly dropped their first sets against UCLA. This was the first set loss for all three pairs this season.
The second set provided an opportunity for Cal Poly to gain momentum back as Martinez and Walter secured the first point for the Mustangs with a 22-20 victory over the Bruins.
No. 1 pair Inskeep and Connor and No. 3 pair Westby and Adams took the second set back to split the score 1-1. Perry and Lenahan dropped their second set, sending three courts to a third set.
Despite valiant efforts, all three pairs for Cal Poly dropped their third sets to give themselves their first loss of the season in a 4-1 defeat to the UCLA Bruins.
The team will have plenty of time to regroup before they get a rematch against the Bruins, at the Battle for the West on April 3 and then again at the Center of Effort Challenge on Cal Poly’s home turf a week later.