Cal Poly volleyball won its third straight match against UC Riverside on Saturday Nov. 13 inside the Mott Athletics Center.
The Mustangs (13-14, 11-5 Big West) defeated the Highlanders (6-20, 2-14 Big West) in four sets, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23.
After a back-and-forth opening set, the Mustangs and Highlanders found themselves tied 9-9 in the middle of the set. A 7-2 Cal Poly run put the set out of reach for UCR, extending the Mustang lead to 16-11. Cal Poly won the set 25-20 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In set two, the Mustangs led late in the set, 23-13. However, a late 6-1 run from the Highlanders cut the Cal Poly lead to 24-19. The Mustangs were unphased and won the set 25-19, extending their match lead to 2-0.
In set three, Cal Poly jumped out to a 14-13 lead, but an 8-2 run from UCR surged their lead to 16-21. The Mustangs could not come back and the Highlanders won set three, 22-25.
UCR jumped out to an early 12-16 lead in set four as they looked to force a fifth set. However, an 11-4 run from Cal Poly pushed the Mustangs in front 23-20. The Highlanders could not recover as the Mustangs won the set 25-22 and took the match.
Junior middle blocker Meredith Phillips led the Mustang offense with 15 kills. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Kate Slack followed with 12 and redshirt freshman outside hitter Tommi Stockham had 11.
Stockham led the defense with 18 digs while freshman libero Peyton Dueck had 12.
The Mustangs outhit the Highlanders .259 to .185 in the match. Cal Poly also had 58 kills to go along with 21 errors.
The Mustangs will hit the road on Tuesday, Nov. 16 to take on CSU Bakersfield inside the Incardo Center in Bakersfield at 5 p.m.