The Mustangs’ hopes for their first Big West Tournament championship was cut short Saturday as Pacific upset the Mustangs in the semifinals.
Though the team’s Big West venture is over, their hopes for an at-large spot in the 2011 NCAA Championships is not.
For senior Alexander Sonesson, an NCAA championship invitation would reflect the improvements the team has made since last season.
“We’ve been really high up in the rankings consistently all season,” Sonesson said. “That’s been one of the biggest changes for us as a team: that we can maintain such a high level over such a long period of time.”
As a team, the Mustangs have been ranked 49th in the nation or better since early March.
In a press conference, head coach Justin McGrath said he thinks his team still has a shot to qualify for the tournament, especially ranked duo Sonesson and Andre Dome.
“Alex Sonesson and Dome in doubles have a great opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament as well,” McGrath said. “Those two guys are very excited about the opportunity.”
The duo has ranked in the top 45 since late February, posting a 12-4 record for the season and going 2-2 against ranked opponents.
For Dome, the highlight of the season has been watching the team chemistry develop and grow with every victory.
“Every match we won has been a pretty big highlight for me,” Dome said. “I felt like we relied on each other a lot better and we just trust each other a lot more. Now we just have to keep moving forward.”
Cal Poly earned a first round bye in the Big West Tournament after earning the second seed with a 4-1 Big West record, losing only to undefeated UC Irvine.
No. 3 Pacific defeated No. 6 UC Davis 4-0 to advance to the semifinals against Cal Poly.
Despite beating Pacific in the regular season, Sonesson said the team took nothing for granted going into the tournament.
“Every match is tough,” Sonesson said. “There was Pacific, who we barely won against in the regular season and other small margin victories here and there that can drastically change the outcome of the season.”
Cal Poly narrowly defeated Pacific in the regular season, with the seventh and final match being won by freshman Marco Comuzzo who, after losing the first set 6-3, dominated the next two 6-2 and 6-3.
The Mustangs were unable to pull off the same result in the Big West semis.
Up 3-0 after winning the doubles point and their first two singles matches, the Mustangs were unable to secure a victory in the last four individual matches and missed a second consecutive Big West Championship appearance.
Cal Poly picked up the first doubles point with victories from the duo of Dome and Sonesson, as well as Brian McPhee and Drew Jacobs.
The team jumped up within striking distance of victory over Pacific with quick wins in straight sets from Sebastian Bell who won 6-3, 6-3 and Dome who won 6-1, 6-2.
But Cal Poly failed to win any of its last four matches.
Sonesson and McPhee were defeated in straight sets, while Jordan Bridge lost in three sets, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.
The deciding match came down again to Comuzzo who faced Alex Golding for the second time. It was a similar setting for Comuzzo, who narrowly lost the first set 4-6, before dominating Golding in the second set 6-1. But Comuzzo couldn’t secure the win in a third set tie-breaker, losing 7-6.
Now the Mustangs will wait eagerly for the selection announcement for the 64-team NCAA tournament, which is scheduled for today at 2:30 p.m.