It was expected to be domination at the women?s volleyball game on Saturday, Sept. 30, but it ended up being more of a battle. Nonetheless, the Hornets won 15-10, 15-3, 15-13, and earned their fifth consecutive victory.

The Portland State Vikings have a 0-14 record (0-5 Big Sky). But they challenged the 10-7, defending conference champions, and you think that the outcome would have been a no brainer. But, the winless Vikings played hard, and challenged the Hornets in two great battles in games one and three.

“We didn?t patrol the net like we should of,” Sac State coach Debby Colberg said. “I would have liked to have seen us play with more intensity.”

The Hornets took the early lead in game one, 4-0, before they lost control. The Vikings took advantage of the Hornets? struggles, and fought back to get a 5-4 lead. They didn?t enjoy control for long as Kelly Voeltz regained control for the Hornets, and Olivia Thomas scored an ace to take back the lead 7-5. The Vikings ran out of substitutes early, and the Hornets took game one, 15-10.

After the Hornets breezed through game two, the final game of the match was the most suspenseful. The Hornets took the early lead but the Vikings answered with a late game, four-point rally, which triggered a nail biting battle. Voeltz helped the Hornets get the lead back, but it did not last. The Vikings fought hard for their last chance,and took the lead 13-12. After continuous sideouts, the Hornets regained possession, and freshman Lisa Beauchene scored the winning point, and the Hornets were victorious again.

Colberg was pleased that they completed their goal of giving other team members playing time and experience.

“We were hoping to play all the players, and we did,” said Colberg. “And you are always going to struggle when you do that.”

Colberg was pleased about completing the goal, but a coach always has their watchful eyes on ways of improvement.

“We didn?t patrol the net like we should?ve,” she said. “I would have liked to have seen us play with more intensity.”

Junior Tasman Dwyer, who had 14 kills, said that the team started slow, and feels that the team needs to get more serious from the start.

“It was our first early game,” Dwyer said about the game?s 1 p.m. start. “We didn?t take it as seriously as we should of.”

Earlier in the week, the Hornets were victorious at home against San Jose State and Eastern Washington at home.

On Thursday the Hornets will host Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. in Hornet Gym, as they hope to continue their winning ways.

Following that game the team will travel to Idaho State for a match on Saturday night.