Ryan ChartrandSonneson wins Flight C finals
Cal Poly’s Alexander Sonesson won Flight C finals of the singles competition at the 2007 Chandler Cup Invitational on Oct. 28.
Sonesson defeated Washington’s Skyler Tateisi 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals round. In the finals round he faced off with UC Davis’ Nick Lopez to beat him 7-5, 6-7, 6-3.
Sonesson is a freshman from Svedala, Sweden.
In Flight C singles consolation semifinals, the Mustangs’ Nick Berger was defeated by Nevada’s Kristian Kuharsky, 6-7(5), 7-5, 1-0 (10-6). Kuharsky went on to win the Flight C consolation round.
The Mustangs compete at the Southern California Invitational hosted by USC Oct. 31 through Nov. 4.
Swimming and diving succeed in season opener at Pepperdine
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams saw much success at their season opener at Pepperdine University in the Malibu Invitational on Oct. 27.
Setting the bar high for the women’s team was freshman Gloria Benefield, who won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.69, the second- best time so far in the Big West Conference. This time is also a personal best for her and a Cal Poly school record.
Cal Poly went 1-2 in the 200 backstroke with Benefield in first place and Melody White taking second place.
Carly Rowan won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:27:21, while Stacey Sorenson won the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.86. Sorenson also won the 100 freestyle, finishing in 51.97.
On the men’s team, the Mustangs took first, second and third in the 200 butterfly with freshman Kyle Smith winning it, also with the second fastest best time in the conference this season.
Peter Kline recorded the fastest conference time in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:53.39.
Cal Poly men took the top five places in the 200 freestyle with Christopher Na taking first place with a time of 1:45.87. Na also won the 100 freestyle with a 47.40 finish.
Atherstone wins honor for the fifth time
After another standout week in which she averaged six kills and four digs over seven games and hit a combined .380 in the No. 23 Cal Poly volleyball team’s victories against Pacific (Oct. 26) and UC Davis (Oct. 27), Mustang junior opposite Kylie Atherstone tied a Big West Conference single-season record Monday afternoon by earning her fifth Player of the Week award.
Through 23 matches this year, Atherstone leads all Big West players with 4.66 kills per game and ranks second with 0.46 aces per game.
Long Beach State standout Danielle Scott is the only previous conference performer to earn five Big West Player of the Week honors in a single year, establishing the record during the 1992 campaign.
Atherstone captured her previous Player of the Week honors Sept. 3, 10, 24 and Oct. 22. She is the only player in conference history to win back-to-back Player of the Week honors twice in a single year.
Monday’s honor was the eighth of Atherstone’s career.
Only two players in the 24-year history of Big West volleyball – Scott (1990-93) and Pacific’s Elsa Stegemann (1995-99) – have won the honor nine times.
Mustang junior middle blocker Jaclyn Houston earned Player of the Week honors Oct. 15 to give the program six total awards this season.
The Mustangs return to the court Saturday, Nov. 3 at Cal State Fullerton.