The Cal Poly women’s tennis team will return to the Ronca Tennis Center on April 15 to host UC Riverside in its final two regular season matches. The match is scheduled for noon, and live scoring will be available online. The Mustangs are preparing for a crucial end to their regular season as they look ahead to the Big West Championships.
A win against UC Riverside would set up a decisive showdown with No. 48 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, where the winner will secure the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Cal Poly has already secured at least a No. 2 seed, ensuring a double bye into the semifinals of the Big West Championship, which takes place April 22-25 at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
Currently holding an overall record of 11-8 and standing at 6-1 in Big West play, Cal Poly sits two matches ahead of third-place teams Cal State Fullerton and CSUN. The Mustangs have head-to-head tiebreakers over both programs. UCSB leads the conference with an undefeated record in league play.
Junior Candela Aparisi enters Wednesday’s match riding a five-match singles winning streak and holds an overall singles record of 11-7 this season with a strong performance in conference matches. Aparisi and her doubles partner Natalie Lynch also lead as a tandem with ten wins this year while remaining unbeaten in Big West doubles play.
UC Riverside arrives with a record of two wins and twelve losses this season and has yet to win a conference match. Last year, Cal Poly defeated UC Riverside by sweeping all seven points, maintaining its perfect all-time record against them.
Cal Poly will conclude its regular season by hosting rival UCSB on Saturday during Alumni Weekend, which will also serve as Senior Day for Kennedy Buntrock, Sarah MacCallum, and Alexandra Ozerets. In addition, on Friday afternoon there will be an alumni panel discussion led by former Mustang Nancy Abrams for high school girls interested in college tennis careers.
