Cal Poly Volleyball defended its undefeated conference streak, beating California Baptist University 3-2 on Friday.
Despite the victory, the Lancers (3-15, 0-7) broke the Mustangs’ (11-6, 7-0) four-game sweep streak by clinching sets one and three.
“While we would love to sweep all of our opponents, we have to learn lessons along the way if we want to be playing our best volleyball in November at the Big West Championship,” Head Coach Caroline Walters said.
The Lancers started strong, dominating the first set in a 25-15 win. They held the Mustangs to their lowest hitting percentage of the match, .097, while posting their match-high .393.
Both teams recorded 50 total digs, and Cal Baptist had one more block than Cal Poly with 11. While Cal Baptist stayed neck and neck with Cal Poly statistically, it was not enough to secure the match win.
The Mustangs returned the favor in the same exact fashion in the second set. They won the set 25-15, held the Lancers to their lowest hitting percentage of the night, and posted their highest of .524.
With 54 total kills, the Mustang offense was strong, but the defense was crucial in keeping their undefeated conference streak alive.
Fifth-year outside hitter Kayla Murdoch captained the front-row defense with seven blocks, while senior outside hitter Emma Fredrick led the back-row defense with 14 digs.
“I think our passes just kind of stuck in there [in set two] and kept getting better with each set that we played,” Walters said.
A pivotal piece of Cal Poly’s victory was their serving. The team recorded 13 total aces, their season-high.
Junior outside hitter Kendall Beshear claimed nearly half of those, noting a career-high six single-game aces.
“Tonight was the accumulation of weeks’ worth of work with how much mental and physical energy I’ve been putting into this serve,” Beshear said. “Every single toss is going to be different…and tonight I think I just did a really good job evaluating the toss and then meeting the toss where it was at.”
The Mustangs secured the 15-10 fifth-set win as Fredrick earned the final point of the match and her 18th kill of the night, putting her at the top of the match’s offensive leaderboard.
“I had a shorter block when [Cal Baptist’s] setter was in the front row, so that was nice,” Frederick said. “And Alexis (Cal Poly’s setter) is doing a really good job at pushing tempo and keeping me tight, especially on those off balls because we didn’t necessarily have the best passes to start off with, but they got a lot better.”
The Mustangs look to continue their undefeated conference slate as they take on UC Riverside on Oct. 17 at 4 p.m. in Mott Athletics Center.
Samantha Roach is a sports reporter for Mustang News and is employed by Cal Poly Athletics to create social media content for the volleyball team.