Cal Poly volleyball suffered a three-set sweep at the hands of the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine on Friday, Oct. 15 inside SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Cal Poly (8-11, 6-2 Big West) lost to Hawaii (10-5, 7-0 Big West) by scores of 19-25, 19-25, 22-25. The loss snaps the Mustangs’ four-match win streak.
After a back and forth affair in the opening set, the Mustangs found themselves in a 14-16 hole. A 4-0 Rainbow Wahine run pushed the Hawaii lead to 14-20 and Cal Poly could not climb back into the set, falling 19-25.
Redshirt senior outside hitter Jamie Stivers, the team leader in kills, suffered an apparent elbow injury in the first set and was unable to go for the final two sets.
Set two was also tightly contested, seeing the Mustangs with a narrow 12-11 lead in the set. Hawaii surged forward with an 11-3 run, pushing their lead to a commanding 15-22. The Rainbow Wahine won set two 19-25, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The Mustangs didn’t go down without a fight in set three. The two sides exchanged points to a 22-22 standstill late in the set. However, three straight Hawaii points secured the set and the sweep for the Rainbow Wahine.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Tommi Stockham tallied 10 kills for Cal Poly, followed by redshirt freshman outside hitter Amy Hiatt and junior outside hitter Kristina Jordan, each with seven.
At the net, junior setter Avalon DeNocochea rejected four Hawaii hits. Meanwhile, redshirt freshman middle blocker Kate Slack and junior middle blocker Meredith Phillips had three blocks each.
Freshman libero Peyton Dueck recorded 16 digs while junior defensive specialist Lea Ungar followed with 15.
In the match, the Mustangs hit just .130 compared to Hawaii’s .242. Cal Poly had 35 total kills to go along with 19 errors.
The Mustangs return home against UC San Diego on Friday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center.