Cal Poly Falls Short in Big West Championship Thriller

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s tennis team saw its season come to a close in a thrilling Big West Championship battle with Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at the Barnes Tennis Center.

The second-seeded Mustangs left it all on the courts and tried their best to secure a comeback victory over the top seed Gauchos, but it wasn’t enough as UCSB prevailed 4-3 in an absolute nail bitter.

A week after losing 4-0 to the Gauchos in San Luis Obispo to end the regular season, the Mustangs took UCSB to the brink and made the 50th-ranked team in the country fight for every point.

The conference championship showdown started with UCSB claiming the doubles point despite senior Sarah MacCallum and sophomore Jessica MacCallum winning 6-3 at the No. 2 spot to improve to 3-1 as a pairing this season.

Trailing 1-0 entering singles, Cal Poly looked to complete a comeback win at the conference tournament for the second straight day after defeating CSUN 4-3 in the semifinals on Friday while dropping the doubles point. The Mustangs got off to a strong start in singles, winning the first set on four of the six courts.

After senior Kennedy Buntrock fell at No. 1, Jessica MacCallum stepped up and delivered a dominant victory in straight sets at No. 2 (6-4, 6-1) to make it 2-1 in favor of the Gauchos. She finishes the year 12-8 in singles, including 12-5 at No. 2, and she went 2-0 at the Big West Championships.

UCSB won a three-setter at No. 3 to take a 3-1 lead and move one point away from victory, but senior Alexandra Ozerets quickly responded with an impressive 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) win at No. 4 to make it 3-2. She finishes her final season as a Mustang with a 14-9 singles record and ends her Cal Poly career as the Division I program leader in dual singles victories with 58 (58-32).

Redshirt sophomore Natalie Lynch tied the dual up at 3-3 with a massive three-set victory at No. 5 (6-3, 3-6, 6-2), capping off her match with an electric ace. Lynch ends the season with a 12-8 mark in singles.

The Big West Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament all came down to court No. 6. Senior Sarah MacCallum made the Mustangs proud with a valiant effort, but she dropped a three-set thriller (6-4, 2-6, 1-6). The Gauchos claimed their second straight Big West title.

Cal Poly ends the year with a 13-10 overall record, adding to its program record of six consecutive seasons of posting 13 or more victories. The Mustangs also advanced to the Big West Championship match for the sixth straight year, a program record and the longest streak in the conference since Long Beach State made 15 straight appearances in the Big West final from 2001-15.

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