Cal Poly Earns Thrilling Win Over Hawai'i to Remain Unbeaten in Big West Play

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Senior Sarah MacCallum provided the clinching point as the Cal Poly women’s tennis team secured a dramatic 4-3 victory over No. 73 Hawai’i on Thursday at the Ronca Tennis Center to improve to 5-0 in Big West play.

The win marked the Mustangs’ (10-7) second in three days over a ranked opponent after Cal Poly defeated No. 64 Long Beach State 6-1 on Tuesday at home.

The dual that lasted just over four hours started with a dramatic battle on all three doubles courts. At No. 3, redshirt junior Amy Leather and true freshman Tia Bonita Jakupovic-Kljako secured a 7-5 win to improve to 7-4 as a pairing this season. Then senior Kennedy Buntrock and sophomore Jessica MacCallum dropped a hard-fought battle at No. 1 7-5, forcing the doubles point to all come down to court No. 2.

Sarah MacCallum and Natalie Lynch fought tooth and nail, but it wasn’t enough as Hawai’i won a tiebreaker at No. 2 7-6 (7-2) to earn the doubles point.

For the second straight match, the Mustangs had to rely on stellar singles play to get the job done and they did just that.

Lynch quickly knotted the dual up at 1-1, absolutely dominating her opponent at No. 4, 6-0, 6-1, to move to 10-5 on the year. Buntrock made quick work of her opponent at No. 1 as well, grabbing a 6-2, 6-3 win to improve to 9-5 this season and 4-1 in Big West matches.

The Rainbow Wahine (5-6, 2-2 Big West) made it 2-2 with a straight-sets win at No. 2 before Jakupovic-Kljako put the Mustangs back in front with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 triumph at No. 6, her first singles victory at home. Jakupovic-Kljako was the only Mustang that went 2-0 on Thursday, winning both her singles and doubles match.

Senior Alexandra Ozerets fell short in an absolute war at No. 3, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, allowing Hawai’i to tie the match at 3-3 and force a dramatic winner-take-all at No. 5.

Sarah MacCallum rose to the occasion when the Mustangs needed her most and delivered a clutch three-set victory, 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4. The Laguna Beach, Calif. remained undefeated in Big West matches this season (5-0) with her win.

With four matches remaining, Cal Poly sits in first place in the Big West standings alongside rival UC Santa Barbara who is also undefeated in conference play (3-0).

Cal Poly travels to Southern California next weekend to face Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, April 11, and UC Irvine on Sunday, April 12. Both matches start at 11 a.m.

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