Cal Poly Beach Volleyball pulled off back-to-back sweeps against Houston Baptist and No. 7 Grand Canyon University Friday, March 6 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mustangs’ sweep over the Lopes was Cal Poly’s fourth victory against a Top-20 team and its third over a Top-10 team.
With the two wins, the Mustangs are on a four-match winning streak with a 6-2 overall record.
The Mustangs’ first sweep of the season came in their first match of the day against Houston Baptist. Each Mustang pair won in straight sets during the match. The No. 2 pairing of junior Macy Gordon and senior Torrey Van Winden took home the first victory of the day with scores of 21-12 and 21-13.
The No. 4 pairing of senior Brayden Gruenewald and sophomore Vanessa Roscoe picked up where their teammates left off, securing the victory with 21-16 and 25-23 wins.
The No. 3 duo of sophomore Jayelin Lombard and senior Emily Sonny, who secured a victory over Pepperdine in the previous week, won their sets by 21-13 and 21-11.
Mustang juniors Tia Miric and Mariah Whalen played at the No. 1 spot for the first time this season, achieving 21-17 and 22-20 wins.
The No. 5 pair of senior Adlee Van Winden and freshman Josie Ulrich secured the sweep when they defeated their opponents 21-13, 21-16.
Cal Poly’s next opponent was tournament hosts and No. 7-ranked GCU, who were swept in five straight sets.
The No. 4 pairing of Gruenewald and Roscoe got things started by securing the Mustangs’ first win in straight sets (21-15, 21-16).
Torrey Van Winden and Gordon fell 18-21 in their first set, but bounced back to win the match with scores of 21-19 and 17-15. The pair is now 4-4 while playing together this season.
Sonny and Lombard won both their sets by 21-15 to secure the victory and clinch the win for the Mustangs for the second time on the day. The win brought the duo’s record to 7-1 for the season.
Miric and Whalen secured another victory at the No. 1 spot with 21-14 and 21-18 set wins. The top pairing also improved to 7-1 with the victory.
The sweep was secured by Adlee Van Winden and Ulrich, who won from their No. 5 spot in three sets. After winning the first set 23-21, the duo dropped the second set 18-21. However, the pair pulled off the third-set victory at 15-13 for a Cal Poly sweep over GCU.
Cal Poly will look to extend its winning streak on Saturday against San Diego Community College and Abilene Christian University.