The No. 6 Cal Poly beach volleyball team went 4-1 on the weekend, falling only to No. 3 Hawai’i.
The Mustangs defeated both the Cal State Northridge (CSUN) Matadors and the Sacramento State Hornets in 5-0 sweeps Friday. The victories brought the Mustangs their 13th and 14th consecutive wins.
Sophomore Torrey Van Winden and freshman Tiadora Miric played in the No. 1 spot taking down the Matadors 21-15 and 22-20 and the Hornets 21-11 and 21-10. Junior Adlee Van Winden and senior Taylor Nelson played in No. 3 position and took down the Matadors easily 21-6 and 21-5 and the Hornets 21-13 and 21-12.
“I think this team is super special because they don’t know how good they can be. A lot of other teams have already had that experience in Alabama and those teams have already been at that highest level and this is just a bunch of girls who happen to work really hard and I think that we are all really excited about our potential,” Torrey Van Winden said. “I love being the underdog team. That’s just something that feels so special and any time you get to be a part of one of those teams it’s something to cherish.”
On Saturday, the Mustangs split their matches defeating the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners in a sweep and falling to No. 3 Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine 1-4. The No. 5 pair senior Hannah Hubbard and sophomore Heather Pembroke took down the Roadrunners 21-12 and 21-9 and were the sole victors against the Wahine, winning 21-17, 16-21 and 15-13.
The Mustangs went on to defeat No. 5 Long Beach State 3-2. Torrey Van Winden and Miric defeated the Beach 21-10 and 21-9 in the No. 1 spot. Adlee Van Winden and Nelson won the No. 3 spot 21-16 and 22-20. The biggest battle occurred at the No. 2 position with junior Samantha Manley and sophomore Emily Sonny coming out on top in a back and forth battle 21-13, 17-21 and 24-22.
With the win against Long Beach State, Manley and Sonny improved their pair record to a program record 20-1 on the season.
The Mustangs moved up to No. 5 in the nation with the defeat of Long Beach State.
The team is now 19-3 overall, the best start in program history, and 5-1 in Big West Conference play. They will next play April 7-8 in Palo Alto, California where Cal Poly will take on three ranked opponents, including No. 1 UCLA.