Cal Poly Beach Volleyball tallied two wins and two losses in the Mustang Invitational on Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2 at Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex.
The Mustangs (9-19) got off to a hot start with a pair of wins on day one but went winless on Sunday to split their matchups in the invitational.
Saturday vs. UC Davis
Cal Poly picked up a 3-2 win over the Aggies to kick off the weekend action.
It was the No. 2 pairing of senior Jayelin Lombard and junior Piper Naess that got the Mustangs on the board first, taking care of their matchup 21-14, 21-17.
The No. 5 duo of freshman Emma Zuffelato and senior Kalee Graff kept things rolling for Cal Poly with a dominant 21-8, 21-18 victory to bring the team score to 2-0.
The third matchup to finish on the day clinched the win for the Mustangs, as sophomore Piper Ferch and freshman Izzy Martinez picked up a 21-17, 21-15 win at the top court.
Cal Poly rounded out the matchup by losing at the No. 3 and No. 4 courts.
Saturday vs. No. 20 Tulane
In their second matchup of the day, the Mustangs came out on top against the Green Wave, 3-2, for the team’s first win over a ranked opponent this season.
This win was a bit different than the one earlier in the day, as Tulane came out on top in two of the first three matchups to finish, winning at courts four and five.
The one early Cal Poly win came at court three, where senior Delaney Peranich and graduate Brooke Golik took care of their opponents 21-17, 21-12.
Down 2-1, the Mustangs needed wins at each of the two remaining courts to come out victorious.
They got just that, as the duos of Ferch and Martinez and Lombard and Naess clutched out three-set wins at the top two courts to secure the 3-2 team victory.
Sunday vs. No. 13 Washington
Day two of the weekend was a different story, and it started with a 4-1 Cal Poly loss to the Huskies.
Washington dominated the matchup, as no court went into the third set.
However, that included the lone Mustang win, which came at court two courtesy of Lombard and Naess. The pairing walked away with a 21-19, 21-12 victory.
Sunday vs. No. 9 Cal
The Sunday struggles continued in the final matchup of the weekend as Cal Poly was swept by the Golden Bears, 5-0.
Despite the lopsided final tally, the Mustangs fought hard against one of the best teams in the nation, as two of the losses went to three sets.
Ferch and Martinez at court one had a tightly-contested battle that ended with a 16-14 loss in the tiebreaker set, while the No. 4 pairing of Graff and Zuffelato fell in the tiebreaker set 15-13.
Cal Poly will travel up to Bakersfield for a pair of matchups against CSU Bakersfield and Pacific on Saturday, April 8.