Cal Poly Beach Volleyball look to make another run at the NCAA Championships

One day before the Cal Poly Beach Volleyball team was set to leave for the NCAA Championships, the Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex on Cal Poly’s campus sat empty.

The team could instead be found over 13 miles away, getting their final practice in on the public courts of Avila Beach on the coast of San Luis Obispo County.

The 32-person roster will be making the trip to Gulf Shores, Ala. as the No. 6 seed, with their attention set on a round one matchup against No. 11-seeded LSU on Friday, May 2.

The Mustangs come into this year’s NCAA Championships with significantly higher expectations than in previous seasons.

Last year, they finished third in the tournament after reaching the Final Four and losing to eventual champion USC.

That season they went in as the No. 5 seed, won in the opening round and then secured a major upset against then No. 3 seed Florida State.

Now presented with a similar starting point, they will be looking to prove that the historic run wasn’t a fluke.

“Last year showed us anything can happen,” junior Izzy Martinez said. “We need to bring our A-game, we need to bring our fight, and we’re going to give it our all.”

Gulf Shores is known to be a windy volleyball environment, which can be challenging for teams like the Mustangs who play in more confined complexes where the buildings block out most wind.

Team practices on the shores of Pismo Beach were intended to replicate the unpredictable conditions and different feel of open beach volleyball courts.

“The dimension of where the wall is at Mott, or the parking garage or tennis courts is so much different than the beach that keeps going out,” Head Coach Todd Rogers said.

They will be looking to draw from their veteran experience this time around, with a roster that retains nine of the previous ten starters from the successful 2024 run.

The lineup includes four AVCA All-Americans, two on the first team and two on the second. 

The two first-teamers, the No. 1 pairing of senior Piper Ferch and sophomore Erin Inskeep, put up strong numbers all season taking on the best Cal Poly’s opponents had to offer. 

They finished 27-6 and became the winningest pair in Cal Poly program history with 57 total wins.

The No. 2 pairing of Martinez and sophomore Logan Walker were the two second-team All-Americans, going 29-7 and winning eight straight matches to end the year.

Graduate student Lindsey Sparks brings a championship pedigree at the No. 3 pairing, having won a national title in her first season at UCLA in 2019.

Sparks and Ferch each reached 100 career wins near the end of the season.

“Our expectations are that we’re going to do well here,” Rogers said. “We’re all accustomed to being there and under that pressure, so let’s go out and take care of our business.”

As a nine-year coach, Rogers is looking for his first NCAA beach volleyball title, which would also be the first in Cal Poly program history.

Another historic season for the Mustangs

The Mustangs face an uphill climb as the No. 6 seed, but upsetting higher-ranked opponents is nothing new to this team.

Their strongest performance from the year came in a 4-1 April 4 win against then No. 2 and current No. 1 ranked UCLA at the Best of the West Tournament in Laguna Beach.

It was the first time in program history that they had beat the Bruins, and pushed them to a season-high No. 3 ranking.

They also have faced significant challenges defending their position as a top-ranked team in the country.

No. 8 Long Beach State was a constant problem for the Mustangs, beating them twice in four matchups during the year.

The Beach spoiled the Mustangs’ hopes of a Big West title, taking down the No. 1 seeded Mustangs in the championship round on April 25. 

“We’re only going to let it fuel us,” Martinez said. “We’re definitely going to make sure that what happened there isn’t going to happen again.”

The shocking loss was a blow to the team after having such a strong season, which included a Division I-best 18-game win streak.

The run included their win over the Bruins, Long Beach State as well as then-No. 3 LMU.

Unfamiliarity with LSU

Friday’s slate against LSU will be the first matchup between the programs since 2019.

Sparks is the only member of the current starting lineup who has faced the Tigers, back in her first seasons at UCLA before transferring to Cal Poly.

The No. 11 seeded Tigers hold a 3-0 record over the Mustangs since beach volleyball became an NCAA Division I sport in 2016.

In this year’s matchup, the No. 1 pairs will be a highly competitive matchup, as LSU’s No. 1 pairing Gabi Bailey and Parker Bracken were named to the AVCA All-American first team as well.

“They have a lot of big, physical blockers, which is going to be a test for us,” redshirt junior Ella Connor said. “I’m super excited, it’s going to be a super fun matchup.”

Cal Poly holds the seeding and record advantage, finishing 29-7 on the season compared to LSU’s 24-12.

With a win, Cal Poly would potentially be faced with a rematch against No. 3 seed Stanford if they win their respective matchup with No. 14 seed Boise State.

Stanford beat the Mustangs 4-1 in their only matchup this season at the Center for Effort Challenge at the Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex. 

The NCAA Championships are a three-day event with the first round on Friday, both the quarterfinals and semifinals that Saturday and the championship match on Sunday.

They will have had a week to gather themselves with the hopes of going on another run at the right time for a shot at the national title.