The Sacramento State women’s volleyball team split two matches on their schedule last weekend, relinquishing their share of a first-place tie in the Big Sky Conference.

On Oct. 19, Sac State climbed into a tie for first place with the University of Eastern Washington when they defeated the Eagles at Hornet Gym.

After losing on the road to Weber State University on Friday, the Hornets dropped back into second place when Eastern Washington defeated Montana State University on the same night.

Weber State swept Sac State 32-30, 30-12, and 30-17. Three Wildcat players recorded double-doubles. Holly Montano had 16 kills and 11 digs, Stephanie Metcalf had 14 kills and 12 digs, and Stephanie Kropushek had 12 kills and 14 digs.

“We just played very poorly,” Hornet head coach Debby Colberg said. “We did not show up to play volleyball.”

At the same time, none of the Hornets were able to reach double figures in kills, while senior outside hitter Jayme Wright was the only player to reach double figures in digs.

The Hornets were thoroughly dominated in the match, losing in almost every statistical category, including kills (56-38), and hitting percentage (.336-.138). They were held to just 12 points in the second game of the match, their lowest score of the season.

The loss snapped a three-match Hornet win streak and marked the third straight time that Weber State has beaten them in Utah.

“When you’re a young team, these things happen. It’s not something they intend to do, it’s maturity,” Colberg said. “It’s a mental toughness. It’s learning to trust your skills, which I’m not sure they do yet.”

Seven of the Hornets’ eight losses this season have been sweeps. It’s an awkward statistic for which Colberg sees an easy explanation.

“It shows that we don’t fight hard on the road,” Colberg said. “It’s not frustrating in terms of wins and losses, but I would like to see us fight, even if we lose. “

There was little time to dwell on the loss. The Hornets had a match the next night against Idaho State University. The Bengals, who had lost seven of their last nine matches, and 11 in a row to Sac State, would be a welcome remedy for a wounded Hornet team.

Sac State beat Idaho State 3-0, in an almost complete reversal of their performance the night before.

“They played us to five games at home, so I was concerned that we would continue to play poorly and lose to them as well,” Colberg said. “But we turned it around and played well.”

Wright (13 kills, 11 digs) and junior setter Lisa Beauchene (40 assists, 17 digs) finished with double-doubles, and the team hitting percentage more than doubled from Friday’s match to .305.

The Hornets held the advantage in kills (53-42), and committed just 14 errors to Idaho State’s 29. They dominated on the defensive side as well, beating the Bengals 10.0-6.0 in team blocks.

Sophomore middle hitter Emily Wilson led the team with five blocks, while junior middle hitter Kazmiera Imrie and freshman middle hitter Shannon Arts chipped in four each.

Imrie and sophomore outside hitter Sandra Bandimere also had double figures in kills.

Sac State has seven matches remaining in the regular season. They traveled to take on Santa Clara University in a nonconference match yesterday. The results were not available as of press time. Their final homestand of the season begins on Friday when they take on the University of Northern Arizona.

After another nonconference match against Saint Mary’s University on Tuesday, the Hornets welcome the University of Montana on Nov. 7 and Montana State University on Nov. 9.