Box score
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Cal Poly's Cinderella postseason came to a close on Thursday afternoon in the regional semifinal round of the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship from Historic Memorial Coliseum.
The Mustangs fell 3-0 to the hosts and No. 1 seed Wildcats (28-2), who advance to face third-seeded Creighton for a trip to the national semifinals. Cal Poly closes the 2025 campaign with a mark of 27-8, tying the program’s benchmark for wins in a season.
Interestingly, the Lexington regional as the only site to see four conference champions advance to the round of 16. Big West champion Cal Poly's appearance in the regional field was significant as they stand as the only unseeded team to advance to the third round since the seeding format changed in 2022. Notably, Cal Poly is the first Big West team to earn a spot in the regionals since 2019, and the Mustangs were there for the first time since 2007.
Cal Poly stayed within striking distance of the SEC champions throughout the first frame with both teams displaying effective offense as the Mustangs hit .346 compared to the Wildcats’ .464 attack percentage in the 25-18 set. The margin was two after and Elif Hurriyet dig, pass from Emme Bullis and conversion for Emma Fredrick made it 14-12 in favor of the home team. It remained a two-point affair when Kendall Beshear and Chloe Leluge combined for the block at 15-13. Back-to-back points for Beshear including an ace to the back corner off the high-velocity jump serve set the score at 18-16. However, Kentucky was able to string together four consecutive scoring plays and serve up and ace to end the frame.
In the second, Cal Poly jumped out to the early 5-2 advantage off a kill for Beshear before UK rallied to score five consecutive to edge back in front. Similar to the first set, the Mustangs remained close throughout much of the frame, knotting the score at 12-all after three consecutive points. An 8-2 run for Kentucky finally gave separation in the set, eventually able to close out with another frame-ending ace at 25-19.
The terminal set was all Wildcats, highlighted by a strong 12-0 run sparked by Trinity Ward's serving, which included two service aces. Propelled by the crowd of 4,039 fans rooting for the home team, Kentucky prevailed 25-7 in the set to advance in the bracket.
Lizzy Carr led a balanced attack for UK finishing with 11 kills on .667 hitting with six total blocks and SEC Freshman of the Year Kassie O’Brien dished out 31 assists to an offense that saw seven players record at least two kills. Defensively, Kentucky held the Mustangs to just .114 hitting and outblocked Cal Poly nine to three.
For the Mustangs, Fredrick finished with 11 kills and seven digs, Beshear added eight strikes with two aces and Bullis capped her collegiate career with 23 assists to close with 4,363.
The Big West champions close their 18th appearance in the NCAA Championship with an overall record of 17-18 in the national postseason and a third-straight 20-win season.