Cal Poly volleyball bounced back from their back-to-back losses last week with a four-set victory over UC Irvine on Friday, Nov. 24 inside the Bren Events Center in Irvine.
The third-place Mustangs (14-16, 12-7 Big West) defeated the fifth-place Anteaters (16-13, 9-10 Big West) by scores of 25-21, 25-6, 20-25, 25-20. Cal Poly evened the season series between the two programs after UC Irvine swept the Mustangs in late October.
In the opening set, the two teams battled to a 17-17 standstill. After exchanging points to a 22-21 Mustang lead, Cal Poly finished with three unanswered points to win the set, 25-21.
Set two was dominated by Cal Poly. With an early 4-3 advantage, Cal Poly would extend their lead after a 10-1 run and put the set out of reach for the Anteaters. The Mustangs closed out the set with a 9-0 run to win the second set, 25-6, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set three returned to a back-and-forth affair after the two squads traded runs to a 17-18 Irvine lead. The Anteaters would score six unanswered points to ice the Mustangs to win 20-25 and force a fourth set.
In the fourth set, Cal Poly had an 8-7 lead and a 4-0 Mustang run proved to be the difference. Cal Poly and Irvine traded points all the way to a Mustang set and match victory.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Amy Hiatt led the offense with 15 kills. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Tommi Stockham followed with 13 kills while junior middle blocker Meredith Phillips had nine.
Phillips also totaled six blocks at the net and redshirt freshman middle blocker Kate Slack had five.
Freshman libero Peyton Dueck led the back line with 24 digs. Stockham tallied 15 blocks and junior defensive specialist Lea Ungar had 11.
Cal Poly outperformed Irvine in every major statistic, as they hit .233 with 55 kills and 18 errors.
The Mustangs close out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 27 against UC San Diego inside Rimac Arena in La Jolla at 5 p.m.