Sacramento State volleyball came out strong against Weber State, but couldn’t deny the youngest team in the Big Sky for very long.

Game one was all Hornets (12-7, 4-1 Big Sky), as they would take it easily at 30-14. Sac State’s offense was led by junior outside hitter Atlee Hubbard who had six kills and five digs while hitting .750 to hold off an unorganized Weber State team.

The Wildcats (2-2, 7-10) could only muster a .065 hitting percentage in game one and picked up just eight kills as a team. But the Wildcats would stick around a little longer than the first game would indicate. Weber had played four five-game matches in their last five before facing the Hornets.

In the second game Weber would find new hope limiting its own errors and capitalizing on the Hornets’ .016 hitting percentage. Hubbard would continue to see plenty of offensive sets from Melcher, as she would tally as many personal kills as the entire Weber squad. Weber would continue to fight but game two also belonged to the Hornets.

Hubbard finished game two with 14 kills and nine digs while dropping down to .312 hitting percentage. Accompanying her was senior middle hitter Shannon Arts with seven kills, and Lindsay Haupt with five kills and a .455 hitting percentage.

Freshman outside hitter Chelsea Bair and the Wildcats would improve in game two and find light at the end of game three. Bair spearheaded a strong Weber State attack with nine kills, seven digs and five block assists.

In game three Sac State would struggle with its serving. Trying to find some offense coach Debby Colberg would rotate in freshman setter Rose Burke, but would quickly bring back senior setter Natalie Melcher to finish the match. Sac State’s sloppy serving would let the Wildcats take control for most of the game and game point 31-29.

The Hornets Nest was losing its buzz as game four got under way. The Wildcats were growing even stronger with Bair getting six more kills to start off the fourth. While Hubbard and the Hornets continued to struggle with the offense, the black and purple would control the first half of game four at 16-10. But Weber would keep the Hornets in it with more service errors.

Colberg said that the service and hitting errors were ridiculous.

Tied at 27-27 in game four, Haupt would put a ball away into a huge hole in the middle court of Weber State to bring the Nest back to a deafening buzz. Atlee Hubbard would fly from the left side of the court to score the match point at 32-30. Hubbard led all players with a career-high 26 kills and a solid .295 hitting percentage.

“Its frustrating,” Hubbard said, “because you are trying to push your teammates to play better.

“It got pretty scary in the middle of that game.”

The Hornets remain atop the Big Sky ahead of second-place Montana State (8-8, 2-1). Weber dropped to a four-way tie with the loss.

Sac State will return to the Nest Saturday at 1 p.m. to face Idaho State (8-10, 2-2) for the second game in a four-game home stand.