Cal Poly beach volleyball continued to prove that they are one of the top teams in the country last weekend as the Mustangs split their matches defeating No. 13 Stanford, but falling to No. 1 UCLA.
The Mustangs took down Stanford 3-2, with wins from the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 pair. Taylor Nelson and Adlee Van Winden at the No. 3 spot and Macy Gordon and Raeann Greisen at the No. 4 spot won in three closely fought sets.
Hannah Hubbard and Heather Pembroke played at the No. 5 spot and won in straight sets.
The No. 1 pair Torrey Van Winden and Tiadora Miric were forced to forfeit when Miric suffered an injury. Miric was forced to sit out against UCLA, marking the second time this season the Mustangs have been without one of their top players when facing the number one ranked team in the country.
The Mustangs were defeated by UCLA 4-1 with the sole victory coming from No. 4 pair Gordon and Greisen with scores of 22-20 and 21-15.
On day two of competition, the Mustangs swept both the University of Pacific Tigers and No. 20 Saint Mary’s Gaels.
Miric returned to action for the Mustangs against the Gaels. Alongside Torrey Van Winden, the pair defeated Saint Mary’s by the scores of 21-15 and 21-15.
The Mustangs’ pairs against the Tigers were shuffled. Emily Sonny and Samantha Manley moved to the No. 1 position and came out on top by scores of 21-17 and 21-10. The No. 5 spot was taken over by Brayden Gruenewald and Jamie Stivers who beat the Tigers by the scores of 21-14 and 21-18.
The Mustangs improved to 22-4 overall and remained at 5-1 in Big West Conference play. They remain ranked No. 5 in the nation.
They return to action Saturday, April 14 in Malibu where they will take on No. 15 Arizona and No. 2 Pepperdine.