In their first official action since the NCAA Tournament a season ago, No. 6 Cal Poly Beach Volleyball split their four games in the Battle for LA tournament on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1 at Maples Beach in Los Angeles.
The Mustangs (2-2) played No. 1 ranked UCLA (9-1) and No. 8 ranked Long Beach State (3-3) on Friday. On Saturday, they played Concordia University Irvine (4-4) and No. 2 ranked Loyola Marymount University (9-1).
Friday against two Top 10 opponents
The Mustangs were thrown a massive test in their first action of the season on Friday, taking on No. 1 UCLA and then No. 8 Long Beach State in the Battle for LA tournament.
UCLA proved to be too strong an opponent, as the Mustangs lost all but one match, going down 4-1.
They were able to bounce back just two hours later for a 3-2 win over the Beach.
Cal Poly’s No. 2 duo of junior Izzy Martinez and sophomore Logan Walter were standouts, taking the lone match win against UCLA and then breezing past Long Beach in two sets.
Martinez is coming off of a 2024 Big West Pair of the Year Award for her play alongside redshirt junior Ella Connor last season, and got off to another great start with her new pairing.
Fellow 2024 Big West first teamers senior Piper Ferch and sophomore Erin Inskeep struggled as the No. 1 pair, losing both matches despite taking UCLA to three sets to start off competition.
That early loss didn’t matter against the Beach as the Mustangs’ No. 2, 3 and 4 pairs all won in just two sets to seal the team’s first win of the season.
The No. 6 ranked Mustangs will have another shot at top ranked UCLA later down the line in the Best in the West tournament at Laguna Beach in April.
They will turn their attention to Concordia University Irvine and No. 2 LMU as they finish out the tournament on Saturday.
Saturday sweep and defeat
On Saturday, March 1, the second day of the Battle for LA tournament, the Cal Poly Beach Volleyball team took on Concordia University Irvine and No. 2 LMU.
The No. 6 Mustangs closed their opening weekend by sweeping Concordia and losing to No. 2 LMU 4-1. Overall, the Mustangs went 2-2 on the weekend after splitting their matches on the first day vs No. 1 UCLA and No. 8 Long Beach State.
The Mustangs have switched up some of their pairings to start the season. After being the No. 1 pairing all last season, Martinez and Connor had new partners for the Battle for LA tournament.
As well, Ferch and Inskeep were the No. 1 pairing with Martinez as the No. 2 pairing with Walter and Connor being the No. 4 pairing with sophomore Katie Clevenger.
In the match against Concordia, Ferch and Inskeep dominated the competition and easily won 21-15 in the first set and 21-8 in the second set.
Martinez and Walter won in three sets after a back and forth battle during the first two sets.
The No. 3 pairing of senior Madison Nichols and sophomore Quinn Perry won handily, beating their opponents in two sets.
Connor and Clevenger were able to bounce back and win their match after losing the first set 21-13, and the No. 5 pairing, senior Abbey Reinard and freshman Elise Lenahan, won their match 21-14, 21-17
In the second game of the day against No. 2 LMU, Cal Poly didn’t have as much success with their only point coming from the No. 1 match as Inskeep and Ferch took down Michelle Shaffer and Vilhelmiina Prihti.
Reinard and Sparks were able to take their match to a fifth set, but in the final set, they lost 15-9. This was their third loss of the game, solidifying the Lions’ victory. All the other Mustang pairings lost in two sets.
Cal Poly will next head to Tempe, AZ for the Sun Devil Classic where they will take on the University of Arizona, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Coastal Carolina and No. 11 Arizona State on March 7 and 8
