For head coach Todd Rogers, the loss to USC revealed something both encouraging and frustrating about his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the girls this today \u2026 we have, in my opinion, as much talent, if not more talent than they do. But if that\u2019s the case, how are we losing? It\u2019s this part,\u201d Rogers added, pointing to his head. \u201cThe belief, the willingness to go for it when it matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Against the Trojans, several courts were tightly contested, but USC ultimately won four of the five matches. The Mustangs\u2019 lone victory came from the No. 1 pair of Erin Inskeep<\/a> and Ella Connor<\/a>, who battled past USC\u2019s Zoey Henson and Sarah Wood in a marathon first set before closing the match 30-28, 21-11.<\/p>\n Rogers said moments like those illustrate the small margins that separate Cal Poly from programs that have consistently competed at the top of the sport, like USC and UCLA.<\/p>\n \u201cThese other teams are so used to being in those situations,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cUCLA has, USC has. They\u2019ve been there a million times. We\u2019ve been there a couple of times now, but we\u2019re not finishing when it matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n In late-game situations, Rogers said the Mustangs need to embrace risk rather than playing conservatively.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it\u2019s 21-20 or 22-21 and you have a swing, that may be your one chance,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cYou have to take the swing that\u2019s going to get the kill. If you fail, fine. But you have to take the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Even in their win, Connor and Inskeep experienced those learning moments. Rogers noted the pair had earlier opportunities to close out the opening set before it stretched into the 30-point range.<\/p>\n \u201cThey could have won 21-19,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cBut the strength was that after they messed up on a point they should have put away, they didn\u2019t collapse. They just stayed the course and kept battling.\u201d<\/p>\n The pair ultimately secured the Mustangs\u2019 only point against USC and later picked up another victory in the second match of the day. Connor and Inskeep improved to 7-1 together on the season, matching the record of Cal Poly\u2019s other top pair, Izzy Martinez<\/a> and Logan Walter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both duos have benefited from strong chemistry, according to Rogers.<\/p>\n \u201cErin and Ella played a lot together over the summer and fall, and Izzy and Logan played all last year together,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cThey have great chemistry, and they enjoy playing with each other. In a pairs game, that\u2019s really important.\u201d<\/p>\n After the loss to USC, Cal Poly rebounded with a dominant 5-0 sweep of Concordia Irvine to close the tournament.<\/p>\n Martinez and Walter earned a 21-14, 21-18 win at the No. 1 spot, while Connor and Inskeep followed with a 21-13, 21-11 victory at No. 2. Quinn Perry<\/a> and Ashleigh Adams<\/a> won at No. 3 to improve to 3-0 together this season.<\/p>\n The Mustangs also experimented with lineup combinations, as Emma Zuffelato<\/a> and Faith Bartlett<\/a> picked up a win in their first match together at No. 4, and Hannah Byers<\/a> and Maddy Byrne<\/a> secured the sweep at No. 5 in their first time pairing.<\/p>\n Rogers said the matchup with Concordia showcased Cal Poly\u2019s depth, even with lineup adjustments.<\/p>\n \u201cI pushed some people around and added new teams, and we still crushed them,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cThere\u2019s a big difference in talent level there.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Rogers emphasized that the program\u2019s focus remains on competing with the sport\u2019s elite teams, the kind of programs that have defined the national landscape for years.<\/p>\n The Mustangs, now 6-2 on the season, will have another opportunity to test themselves next weekend at the Chanticleer Challenge in Conway, South Carolina. Cal Poly will face No. 19 Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, Tulane and No. 14 FAU.<\/p>\n For Rogers, the next step for the Mustangs is raising the level across the entire lineup.<\/p>\n Cal Poly\u2019s top two pairs appear set, but the coaching staff continues to evaluate the teams competing in the middle of the lineup.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, our top two teams are playing really good volleyball,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cNow we\u2019re trying to figure out our three, fours and which five team is going to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n The goal, Rogers said, is simple: push the entire roster to improve.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen everyone pushes their ceiling up, the whole program rises,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we want to see from the rest of our lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The talent is there. The results against the nation\u2019s elite programs just haven\u2019t quite followed yet for Cal…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":631065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[196743,1582,269164,276,104791,269165,266695,266696,2961,224,5337,1317,269166,2501,11016],"class_list":["post-631064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-big-west","tag-ca","tag-cal-poly-beach-volleyball","tag-california","tag-division-i","tag-ella-connoe","tag-ella-connor","tag-erin-inskeep","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-ncaa","tag-todd-rogers","tag-ucla","tag-usc"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116169678984614284","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/beachvolley-2-13-dahlgren-16.jpg\")
<\/a>Head Coach Todd Rogers experimented with different lineups at the No. 3, 4 and 5 spots in the lineup across the weekend tournament. Credit: Mia Dahlgren \/ Mustang News<\/p>\n