The Hornet women’s volleyball team dropped two out of three games over the weekend at the 14th annual Sacramento State Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Sac State (6-8) ended the tournament with a 3-0 loss against eventual champions Cal Poly in
swept Grand Canyon University 3-0 during day two of the 14th annual Sac State Invitational.

“I definitely think that our level of play was a lot lower than usual,” Junior setter Kennedy Kurtz said after leading the team with 30 assists and 9 digs. “We just didn’t execute as well as we normally do. I hope we go into [next week] with a better mindset.”

Prior to the loss to Cal Poly, the Hornets swept Grand Canyon in three sets in front of their home crowd for the team’s first victory since defeating the University of Texas at El Paso on Sept. 10.

“I noticed that there’s a chain reaction when we were down,” Junior outside hitter Shannon Boyle said after scoring 16.0 points with 16 kills digs against Grand Canyon. “That’s one of my favorite things about volleyball—the excitement with the crowd and the players on the court really helps us in these close games.”

Sac State failed to capitalize in the closest contest of the tournament as the Hornets fell to the University of Nevada, Reno, 3-1. Boyle, who was named to the All-Tournament team, expressed disappointment along with head coach Ruben Volta.

“I don’t think we played very well as the match went on,” Volta said after Friday’s defeat to Nevada. “We started off well and we were playing a good opponent. They made it tough for us…But we showed signs of good.”

The Hornets will play next against Weber State in Ogden, Utah, on September 23.