Going 2-2 wasn’t exactly what the Sacramento State volleyball team had in mind when they set out to perform in the inaugural Sacramento State Invitational last weekend. Considering what they had to go through to reach that mark, they’ll take what they can get.

The Hornets’ two wins of the tournament came on its second day. They began by dispatching Georgetown University 3-1. Senior setter Lisa Beauchene had a triple-double (10 kills, 13 digs, 51 assists) and freshman outside hitter Jennifer Ferguson had a double-double (16 kills, 10 digs) en route to the win.

Junior outside hitter Sandra Bandimere and senior middle hitter Kazmiera Imrie each had double figures in kills as well.

After going up two games to none, the Hornets found themselves down 18-11 in game three after four attack errors.

“We didn’t have the mindset to finish the match,” Hornet head coach Debby Colberg said. “We knew they were going to go into the break and make some adjustments. We just weren’t up to the task.”

Sac State did make a valiant effort however.

Ferguson had six kills and freshman defensive specialist Kristin Lutes had six digs to help the Hornets close the gap to 29-28 before the Hoyas put the game away.

“It was a great comeback. Unfortunately, we fell short,” Colberg said.

In the fourth game, the team rallied from a 7-1 deficit to tie the Hoyas and never trailed again by more than a point.

In the final match of the tournament, Sac State defeated Oregon State University 3-1.

Despite being beaten in almost every statistical category, the Hornets were able to win on the momentum of a near triple-double (nine kills, 40 assists, 12 digs) from Beauchene and double figure kill performances by Bandimere and Imrie.The team shined defensively as well. Beauchene and junior middle hitter Emily Wilson consistently shut down the Beavers’ scoring opportunities combining for eight of the team’s 12 blocks.

“Our defense definitely improved over the length of the tournament,” Beauchene said after being named to the All-Tournament team along with Imrie. “Defense and the serve are our strong points when we’re playing well.”

The Hornets opened their tournament run by getting swept 3-0 by the University of California, Riverside and followed that up with a 3-1 loss to eventual tournament champion Fresno State University.

“We didn’t step up at all in the first match,” Imrie said. “(Against Fresno State) we just didn’t do a good job of capitalizing on their errors.”

The Hornets had plenty of their own errors to worry about. They were held to .190 and .173 hitting percentages in each of the first two matches and managed only eight blocks to their opponents’ 16.

“We were serving weak early. When a team is better than you offensively anyway, it makes things easier for them…” Colberg said.

She admits the team would like to have performed better, but given the roller coaster ride they endured, Colberg realizes it could have been worse.

“Fresno was clearly the best team here,” Colberg said. “Coming in, I thought we were talented enough to battle with any of these other teams. I would’ve liked to be 3-1, but after (Saturday), I’m happy with our performance.”

The Hornets hit the road for the next two weeks, taking part in the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tournament on Sept. 12-13 and the New Mexico Tourney on Sept. 19-20.