Mustangs Sweep Singles to Down No. 64 LBSU

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s tennis team used a dominant showing in singles to roll to a 6-1 home victory over No. 64 Long Beach State on Tuesday and remain undefeated in Big West play.

With the win, the Mustangs (9-7) improved to 4-0 in conference play to stay in first place in the Big West standings with five regular season matches remaining. Cal Poly and Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara (2-0) are the only two teams yet to suffer a loss in conference play.

The dual got started with a tightly-contested doubles point that saw incredible play on all three courts. The Mustangs lost at No. 3, but juniors Candela Aparisi and Natalie Lynch were able to win 6-4 at No. 2 to keep Cal Poly alive in the fight for the doubles point. The dynamic duo improved to a team-best 9-5 this season and is still perfect in Big West play (3-0).

With the two teams splitting at No. 2 and No. 3, the doubles point all came down to No. 1. Senior Kennedy Buntrock and sophomore Jessica MacCallum were able to jump out to a 5-0 lead before LBSU (11-8, 4-2 BW) won five straight games and forced a tiebreaker. In a back-and-forth tiebreaker, the Beach squeaked out a narrow 7-5 win to claim the doubles point.

Trailing 1-0, the Mustangs brought their best to the court in singles and overwhelmed the Beach with an impressive showing in all six matches.

Aparisi led the charge back by earning the first singles victory, making quick work of her opponent at No. 3, 6-3, 6-2. It was her third straight singles victory — all in straight sets — and the Valencia, Spain native improved to 9-7 this season.

Jessica MacCallum finished her match just minutes later, winning 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 to give Cal Poly a 2-1 lead.

Her older sister, Sarah MacCallum, made it 3-1 and put the Mustangs on the verge of clinching the dual with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 triumph at No. 6. Lynch sealed the victory for the Mustangs with a comeback victory at No. 5, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to move to 9-5 on the year and increase her winning streak to three.

Buntrock, while battling through an injury, captured a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory at No. 1 to improve to 8-5 on the year and move into a tie for 11th on Cal Poly’s all-time dual singles wins list with 41.

Senior Alexander Ozerets, who broke the Cal Poly school record for career dual singles wins in a victory at UT Arlington last week, completed the singles sweep for the Mustangs with a dramatic victory at No. 4. After dropping the first set 4-6, Ozerets battled back to earn a 6-3 second-set victory. Then in an epic 10-point tiebreaker, Ozerets emerged victorious 14-12 to round out the dual for the Mustangs. She improved to a team-best 10-6 on the season and remained undefeated in conference matches (4-0).

Cal Poly hosts another pivotal Big West match at noon Thursday when they welcome No. 73 Hawai’i (5-5, 2-1 BW) to the Ronca Tennis Center.

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