UC Davis was undefeated in conference play, Cal Poly was undefeated at home. One record would be tarnished on Saturday afternoon.
On Oct. 25, Cal Poly Volleyball defeated UC Davis to secure a year-long home winning streak and snap Davis’ undefeated conference record in a competitive, four-set match ending with a score of 25-21.
“It was just such a fun win,” redshirt senior outside hitter Annabelle Thalken said. “I think we played really great volleyball.”
Contradicting First Set
Contradicting the rest of the match, the Aggies held the lead throughout the entirety of the first set. Even with three ties, the Mustangs could not make the leap to take the lead.
While Cal Poly is ranked number No. 18 in the country for hitting percentage, they failed to reach a .100% hitting percentage in set one, landing below 0.05%. Despite their lack of offensive performance, the Mustangs made up the difference with 17 digs and six blocks, holding the Aggies to a 0% hitting percentage with both teams seeing their worst offensive performance of the match.
“In set one, I thought we played incredible defense and we held them to a very low attack efficiency,” head coach Caroline Walters said. “Unfortunately, they held us to a low attack efficiency too.”
A pivotal piece of Cal Poly’s only set loss was their inconsistency with serving. With a 25-21 loss, Cal Poly’s four service errors accounted for their four-point deficit.
“That wasn’t our best volleyball by any means,” Thalken said.
Script-Flipping Sets
Set one was no indicator of how the rest of the match would play out. The Mustangs came back in the next three sets looking refocused on the court.
“Our attackers played some of the best volleyball in sets two, three and four that I’ve seen them play in a while in terms of decision making and being aggressive,” Walters said.
Set two saw the same tight, competitive play. However, the Mustangs took control, never giving up the lead. They rallied in 30 digs, building upon their defense from set one, while nearly doubling their amount of kills with 16.
While Davis was able to tie the game five times, their offense could not keep up with Cal Poly’s increased hitting percentage, resulting in a 25-20 win for the Mustangs.
“You really feed into the competitiveness and it’s just an overall great game,” sophomore outside hitter Kendall Beshear said.
The Mustangs dominated set three from the start, allowing no ties and mirroring set two in never giving up the lead resulting in an astonishing 25-12 win. They had their best offense performance of the night with a .500% hitting percentage, a dramatic increase from set one.
With Cal Poly leading 21-12, Davis called a timeout in hopes to turn the game around. The Aggie’s 14 errors throughout the third set allowed the Mustangs to finish strong with a 7-0 run, resulting in the set win.
To possibly keep their undefeated conference slate, the Aggies would have to make a miraculous set four win, but the Mustangs finished the job with a score of 25-21 to win their 16th straight home match.
Beshear led the offense with 18 kills and a .312% hitting percentage, and sophomore libero Elif Hurriyet captained the defense, earning herself a new season high with 18 digs.
“I just love these types of games,” Beshear said. “We just got to play our brand of volleyball and that’s exactly what we did.”
This win bumped the Mustangs to No. 2 in the Big West Conference, setting them up for an optimistic second half of conference play.
“We’ve seen all the teams now, and I think we’re ready,” Thalken said. “We know what we can do and I think we’re just excited to keep it going and see what happens in November.”
Cal Poly hits the road to take on California State Bakersfield and California State Northridge on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in hopes of claiming an eight-game winning streak and staying high in the conference standings.