SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — In a back-and-forth conference battle that featured 10 ties and four lead changes, the Cal Poly volleyball team fell to Long Beach State in five sets (25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 21-25, 11-15) Friday evening inside Mott Athletics Center.
The Mustangs (16-7, 12-1 Big West) saw their 12-match conference win streak come to an end against a Long Beach State squad (19-4, 11-2) that avenged an earlier straight-sets loss to Cal Poly on Oct. 10 in the Pyramid. The Beach out-hit the Mustangs .220 to .149 and finished with a 63-51 advantage in kills, while Cal Poly held edges in digs (69-66) and total blocks (3-7).
Cal Poly opened the match with a 25-21 first-set win, but Long Beach State answered with a 25-18 second-set victory to even things up. The Mustangs reclaimed the lead with a 25-19 third-set win, only to see the Beach force a decisive fifth set with a 25-21 fourth-set win. Long Beach State then jumped out to an early lead in the fifth and held on for the 15-11 clincher.
The Mustangs finished with five service aces against 10 service errors, while Long Beach State tallied five aces against 18 errors. Cal Poly also committed 27 attack errors on 161 attempts, compared to 25 errors on 173 swings for the Beach.
Individually, Emma Fredrick led all players with 19 kills on 66 attempts, adding five digs and one service ace. Kendall Beshear chipped in 12 kills, 15 digs, two service aces, and two total blocks for 15.5 points, while Kayla Murdoch posted 11 kills on 22 swings at a .364 clip with one block. Breklyn Pulling added six kills without an error on 15 attempts (.400) and three digs, and Chloe Leluge contributed three kills and one block.
Alexis Haury directed the offense with 41 assists to go along with a single-match career-high 21 digs, one service ace, and one kill, while Elif Hurriyet added five assists and 13 digs. Ella Scott chipped in one service ace and two digs, and Noe Vanacht recorded eight digs and one assist.
Cal Poly returns to action Saturday, Nov. 7, hosting Cal State Fullerton at 6 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center with another opportunity to mathematically qualify for the Big West Championship, hosted in San Luis Obispo.