The 3-0 sweep of UC Riverside on Friday night by the Cal Poly women’s volleyball team was unlike any other win senior Catie Smith has ever been a part of.
For Smith and her fellow seniors Lauren Law and Sarah Cawrse, Friday night was the last time they will experience victory at Mott Gym.
“It sounds cliché, but it’s really bittersweet,” Smith said. “I’m sad that it’s my last game here at home — it’s a weird feeling that’s kind of hard to explain right now.”
Following an emotional introduction, the seniors and their parents all received standing ovations from the crowd at Mott Gym, when Cal Poly played its most dominating match of the season. The Mustangs defeated the visiting Highlanders 25-10, 25-21, and 25-15 to ensure the seniors would be victorious in their final home match.
Prior to the match, interim head coach Caroline Walters inserted Cawrse and junior Megan McConnell into the starting lineup.
“(McConnell) has been really impressing us in practice,” Walters said. “She has been really transitioning well and playing aggressive. (Cawrse), being a senior, took the ball and ran with it. She deserves to play out her senior year.”
Walter’s faith was rewarded as Cawrse led the Mustangs with 32 assists, and McConnell was third on the team with six kills.
Overall, Cal Poly had more assists, kills and blocks than UC Riverside.
Cal Poly played a near-perfect first game. Their side-out percentage was a perfect 100 percent, compared to only 40 percent for UC Riverside. The Mustangs committed only one error and registered three blocks. The Highlanders never led as the Mustangs jumped out to a 15-6 lead and were never challenged the rest of the set. UC Riverside had five errors and zero blocks in the first set.
“It was our attitude tonight,” Walters said. “We made a few changes to our defense and went to a more basic one. We told the girls to go out and just make plays, and they did a great job of that tonight.”
The second set was much closer. There were 13 ties and four lead changes. Cal Poly was not as sharp and sent three serves into the net. However, the Mustangs were resilient as Smith blocked a Highlanders attack and stretched the lead to 24-19. Then sophomore outside hitter Kristina Graven earned the final kill when her shot went off UC Riverside’s Jessica Moncayo and landed out of bounds.
After a back-and-forth start to the third game, Cal Poly extended the lead to 24-14. Fittingly on senior night, Smith’s last point in Mott Gym sealed the match for Cal Poly.
“I’m really going to miss the relationships that I’ve made with teammates,” Smith said. “They are like my sisters and like family. I’m really sad, but I’ll be at all the games next year and with them all — the best of luck.”
The Mustangs traveled to Santa Barbara on Sunday where they were swept and end the season with a trip to Southern California next weekend where they play UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge. The victory at home followed by the loss at UCSB moved Cal Poly’s record to 11-15 overall and 6-8 in the Big West Conference. The Mustangs end the year 6-2 at home.
“It’s not over yet,” Smith said. “If we somehow make it to the tournament, that would be great.”