The Cal Poly Women’s Tennis team shutout No. 2 seeded Cal State Fullerton 4-0 in the Big West Tournament Semifinals on Friday, Apr. 30.
With the win, the Mustangs (14-2) advance to the finals of the tournament for the first time since 2007. In addition, the Mustangs avenged their loss against the Titans (13-6) earlier in the season, which was Cal Poly’s first loss of the season.
For the 12th time this season, the Mustangs secured the doubles point. After the Titans won at the No. 3 spot, the Mustangs’ No. 1 pairing of sophomore Emily Ackerman and sophomore Kim Bhunu defeated Misaki Kobayashi and Eira Tobrand 6-3. Then, Cal Poly’s No. 2 duo of freshman Delanie Dunkle and freshman Melissa LaMette clinched the point after a 7-5 win over Camila Garcia and Jadie Acidera.
In singles, freshman Dominique Stone dominated Kobayashi at the No. 1 spot in consecutive sets 6-1, 6-0 to extend Cal Poly’s lead to 2-0.
At the No. 5 position, Ackerman gave the Mustangs a 3-0 lead after defeating Titans’ YuSeung Suh in back-to-back sets 6-2, 6-2. With the victory, Ackerman improved her singles record to 13-1 this season which is tied for the most wins on the team.
LaMette clinched Cal Poly’s victory after she won her match in straight sets at the No. 3 spot over Acidera 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.
The Mustangs will face top-seeded UC Santa Barbara on Saturday for the Big West Championship. The Gauchos beat Cal Poly 4-0 when the two teams faced off in the regular season.