Championship Central | Interactive bracket | Championship box score (.pdf)
SAN LUIS OBSIPO, Calif. - 2022 Big West Beach Volleyball Championship hosts and No. 3 seed Cal Poly earned their third consecutive title on Saturday at the Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex.
Cal Poly defeated top-seeded and ninth-ranked Hawai’i 3-2 in their third straight championship final duel and the second match between the two in as many days. Friday night under the lights, the Mustangs earned the 3-2 decision, and the same score held true for Saturday’s finale.
The competitive final opened with a pair of points for Cal Poly and Courts 3 and 4, duplicating the winner’s bracket semifinal results from Friday. Hawai’i pair of Riley Wagoner and Ilihia Huddleston got the Rainbow Wahine on the board to leave just two courts in action. It was a beach battle between a quartet of All-Americans on Court 1. Last night, the point went to Hawai’i’s Brooke Van Sickle and Kaylee Glaugau, but Saturday skewed the way of the Mustangs to clinch the match.
Tia Miric and Ella Connor took the first set 21-14. In the second, the square was tied at 18-all, and against at 20, 21, and 22 before the Mustangs’ pulled out the 25-23 set to send the Cal Poly contingent on the sand to celebrate. Hawai’i earned the final point at the 2s to put the final team score yet again at 3-2.
The Mustangs have now beaten the Rainbow Wahine in six of their last seven meetings in The Big West Championship. Cal Poly now ties Hawai’i with a string of three straight titles as the two teams have claimed all six trophies, all consecutively.
With the victory, the Mustangs earn The Big West’s automatic bid to the National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship May 4-8 in Gulf Shores, Ala. The expanded 2022 field will feature 16 teams who will all compete on May 4, with the eight match winners advancing to a double-elimination bracket that begins on May 6.
No. 2 seed Long Beach State opened the day with a win, defeating UC Davis 3-2 to advance to play No. 1 seed Hawai’i in a must-win matchup. All five courts went to a decisive third set. The first three results to come were all in favor of the Beach, as the match was clenched with wins on Courts 2, 5 and 3. The No. 3 pair of Jillian Rodriguez and Emily Mattoon dropped their first set to Megan Luly and Morgan Coolbaugh of UC Davis 19-21 before rallying for a 21-13 second-set win. It took extra points in the final frame before Rodrigues and Mattoon earned the 17-15 victory to send the Beach to the second elimination match of the day, and their third of the Championship.
Long Beach State’s morning win set up a battle between the bracket’s top two seeds. Meeting for the second time of the season, Hawai’i duplicated their Big West Challenge score with the 3-2 victory to earn their place in their sixth consecutive Big West Championship title tilt.
The Beach got on the board first with a two-set win by the No. 4 duo of Nicci Reinking and Claire Newlander. Playing on Court 2 for Hawai’i, Kylin Loker and Jaime Santer also claimed the point and the duo of Van Sickle and Glagau quickly followed with the two-setter to give Hawai’i the slim edge. With the final two courts pushing to a third set, Long Beach State took the point at the 5s to again even the match with the Rainbow Wahine.
With the decision hanging on Court 3, Megan Widener and Sarah Penner needed extra points in the third frame before pulling out the 21-18, 17-21, 16-14 win. Long Beach State’s pair of Jillian Rodriguez and Emily Mattoon held a sizeable lead through much of the third set, but with Rodriguez battling cramps, Hawai’i was able to take advantage to send the Rainbow Wahine to their third-straight title game between Cal Poly and Hawai’i.