Cal Poly volleyball draws Denver in first round of NCAA Tournament | Sports Notes

Following a historic season that included an undefeated Big West title and a No. 21 national ranking, the Cal Poly volleyball team gathered together Sunday to learn its postseason fate as the NCAA Tournament brackets were announced.

The best record in program history (26-2, 16-0 Big West) earned the Mustangs a No. 2 seed in the UCLA sub-regional and a matchup with Denver (23-5) in the first round on Friday inside UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. The match is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

It will be the first tournament appearance for Cal Poly since 2007, while Denver will be making its fourth-straight trip after winning the Summit League title. The last time Cal Poly volleyball made the tournament the team advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to Stanford.

If Cal Poly can get past Denver and No. 15-seeded UCLA can beat Austin Peay, it would set up a potentially interesting reunion match in the second round. Cal Poly sophomore Torrey Van Winden was an All PAC-12 team member as a freshman for UCLA last season before transferring to Cal Poly in 2017 to be reunited with her older sister Adlee Van Winden. Torrey Van Winden was part of a UCLA team that advanced to the Elite 8 in the 2016 tournament. This season the sisters combined for 759 kills this season to lead the way for the Mustangs. Both were named to the All-Big West Conference First Team on Monday along with senior middle blocker Savannah Niemen, and senior outside hitter Raeann Greisen.

Cal Poly senior setter Taylor Nelson became the fourth Mustangs player to be named Big West Player of the Year Monday as the driver of the nation’s sixth-best offense. Head coach Sam Crosson was named Big West Coach of the Year in his sixth season.

Cross country finishes at state meet

Competing as an individual, Morro Bay junior Audrey McClish had the highest finish of any SLO County runner at the CIF State Cross Country Championships on Saturday. McClish finished the 5,000-meter course at Woodward Park in Fresno in 18:50 to set a personal record and finish in 16th place in Division 4.

Paso Robles junior Pablo Cortes (16:12) led the boys cross country team to a 14th-place finish in Division 2 and wrap up a successful season after moving up from Division 3. Sophomore teammate Damian Gavilan finished in 60th (16:25).

The San Luis Obispo boys team, led by sophomore Duncan Speirs (17:00), finished in 11th place in Division 4.

Arroyo Grande senior Luis Jazo (16:30) finished in 66th in the Division 2 race competing as an individual.

A.G.’s Dunkle advances in CIFSS tennis tourney

Arroyo Grande junior Delanie Dunkle qualified for the Round of 32 for the second year in a row last week at the CIF-Southern Section Girls Tennis Individual Championship Qualifiers.

After receiving a bye in the first round, Dunkle defeated Taylour Newman of Simi Valley (6-1, 6-1) and Erica Ekstrand of Harvard-Westlake (7-6 (7-2), 6-0) to advance to the next round which will be played Tuesday at the Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in South El Monte.

A win Tuesday would put Dunkle in the Round of 16 which would be played Wednesday at the Seal Beach Tennis Club.

College signings roundup

Atascadero senior Nolan Meredith has committed to play baseball at UC Davis. Meredith, who has been on the varsity team since he was a freshman, is expected to play middle infield or pitcher at UC Davis. He’s recently been clocked in the high 80-mile-per-hour range on the mound.

Nolan’s twin brother Nathan, who plays catcher for the Greyhounds, also has offers to play Division I baseball but has yet to make his decision.

▪  Arroyo Grande senior setter Macie Lachemann will join the beach volleyball team at Colorado Mesa University after signing her National Letter of Intent. Lachemann helped lead the Eagles to an undefeated league title this season.

▪  Templeton graduate and County Swimmer of the Year Amanda Wilson will join the swim team at UC Davis in the fall of 2018.

▪  Five SLO High student athletes announced where they will be competing in college: Galen Penvenne, swimming, Cal Berkeley; Isabel Carpenter, girls golf, Cal State Monterey Bay; Casey Leebrick, boys golf, York College of Pennsylvania; Natalie Ziegler, softball, Colorado Northwestern Community College; Tia Gin, gymnastics, San Jose State.

Laird shines again in season-ending loss to UCLA

UCLA’s dramatic come-from-behind win over Cal on Friday ended dreams of a bowl appearance for the Golden Bears, but it also featured another spectacular performance for former walk-on and Mission Prep graduate Patrick Laird.

Larid rushed for 182 yards on 32 attempts, along with 30 yards receiving, while making a handful of impressive plays along the way.

The redshirt junior who was expected to be the third-string running back this season, emerged as the top rushing threat for the Bears by outshining two established seniors. Laird averaged over 145 yards rushing in his final five games (Arizona, Colorado, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA) to finish the season with 1,127 yards. He also had 322 yards receiving and nine total touchdowns on the season.

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Cal Poly volleyball draws Denver in first round of NCAA Tournament | Sports Notes."