Hornet volleyball drove a spike into the hearts of Loyola Marymount fans Sunday night in route to win its second straight Sacramento State Invitational title without a loss. Sacramento State also extended their winning streak to four straight to break even at 5-5 for the season.

After an early season slide of five straight games, the Hornets are soaring.

In the first match of the tournament against Nevada and their powerful senior Salaia Salave’a the Hornets were starting to realize their potential. After four growling games Salave’a would top all scorers with 24 kills. But Sac State’s team effort was too much for the Wolfpack as the rolled on to victory.

In round two the match became the story of two setters. While Senior Natalie Melcher set for the first two matches, freshman hopeful Rose Burke saw her first minutes since being pulled after their fifth straight loss of the season to Rice University. The pair would round out a team effort three-game sweep against the Lions of Columbia University.

But the real test had yet to come for the Hornets. Ding-ding round three Loyola Marymount.

Junior Libero Kristin Lutes lead the Hornets volleyball team’s defense against the Lions on its way to winning a second-straight Sacramento State Invitational tournament title. Lutes added 29 digs to the team’s total 102.

“My defense was really aggressive,” says Lutes, I’d give myself a 9 out of 10. We knew we had to win against (Loyola Marymount) to get a better seed, should we make it to the NCAA tournament.”

Lutes 6.27 digs per game during the tournament contributed to her nomination for all-tournament honors for the second time in her career.

Junior outside hitter Atlee Hubbard would take charge on the offense with a team high 16 kills over the Lions. Hubbard joined five other Hornets with double figure kills in the title match.

Hornets senior setter Natalie Melcher scrambled after every ball, once costing her an over handed kill shot to the face courtesy of LMU’s 6-foot 2-inch sophomore Heather Hughes.

These Lions wouldn’t lie down easily. The title match would go four games, with the Hornets jumping out quickly taking the first two games and finishing 3-1.

“We battled the most in this game,” says junior outside hitter Shannon Roland. “I found it easy to [score] on them.”

After the first two games Loyola would recoil to put away game three. The Lions were able to take advantage of a Hornets team that had slipped its focus from games one and two. The Hornets weren’t going to let the match slip away from them.

“They were a really good team,” says sophomore middle hitter Lindsay Haupt. “We responded really well.”

Haupt racked up 10 kills, two digs and assisted on nearly each of the 17 Hornet blocks against LMU. Blocks and hitting percentage (.234) were the only statistics in Sacramento’s favor, while Loyola Marymount lead in kills (75-70), assist (72-57) and digs (108-102).

By the fourth game, the Hornets hadn’t slacked pace. The team went without a timeout against a Lions team that was seeing the match slip away one kill and one block at a time. With the Lions on the ropes at 26-22, Hornets lead. Loyola Marymount’s head coach, Steve Stratos, had had enough and let the referees know about it. The LMU bench was warned with a yellow card.

Loyola Marymount was stung with their first loss of the season (5-1). Stratos refused to speak with the State Hornet after the match.

Now 10 games into the season the Hornets are starting to gel together and find that rhythm which had seem so far gone during an early 5 game slide.

“We started off really slow,” says Haupt. “We are learning to fight as a team.”

The Hornets will return to the Nest on Sept. 22 to face Montana State in their Big Sky conference opener.