Cal Poly volleyball wrapped up their 2021 season with a sweep (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) of UC San Diego on Saturday, Nov. 27 inside RIMAC Arena in La Jolla.
The Mustangs (15-16, 13-7 Big West) ended their campaign as the third place team in the Big West, while the Tritons (10-21, 7-13 Big West) finished in ninth place.
Cal Poly came out firing in the first set as they jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. However, San Diego battled back and eventually tied it up at 14-14. After the Mustangs held a slight 20-19 advantage, they scored five of the final six points to take the first set 25-20.
The second set contained multiple dominating runs from Cal Poly, as they went on scoring stretches of 6-3 and 7-2. The Mustangs held a comfortable lead for most of the set and they took the 25-17 set victory and the 2-0 match advantage.
With their backs against the wall, the Tritons got out to a 6-3 lead in the third set. However, the lead did not last long, as a 7-1 Cal Poly run put the Mustangs ahead at 10-7. After back and forth play, seven unanswered points from Cal Poly extended their lead to 21-16. The Mustangs never looked back from that as they won the set 25-20 and completed the sweep.
Redshirt freshman outside hitters Tommi Stockham and Amy Hiatt led the Cal Poly attack with 14 and 12 kills, respectively.
On the defensive side, junior defensive specialist Lea Ungar tallied 14 digs while freshman libero Peyton Dueck added 12 of her own. Ungar also added four aces on the day.
As a team, the Mustangs dominated defensively, as they held San Diego to a hitting percentage of .019 while recording 14 total blocks.
The third-place finish for Cal Poly marked the sixth consecutive season in which the Mustangs have been a top three team in the Big West Conference.
