The Sacramento State Volleyball Club competed at the National Campus Championship Series National Volleyball Championships from Thursday through Saturday in Dallas, Texas. There were 261 teams from across the country that competed at the three-day event.

The tournament was formatted to two rounds of pool play, followed by single elimination brackets. The matches were played best out of three games. The first two non-deciding games were scored up to 25 points while the deciding third game was scored to 15 points.

Sacramento’s No. 27-seeded men’s team opened up the first day of the competition with two consecutive losses against the University of Central Florida (25-23, 23-25, 15-13) and San Diego State University (25-22-, 25-21). Unwilling to end the day without a single win, the team rallied to shut down Kent State (25-22, 25-21) and garnered its first win of the tournament.

The women’s team ranked No. 8 at the Division II level out of 48 teams and it was eager to prove it earned that ranking. The team clinched two early decisive victories over Townson University (25-15, 25-19) and Georgia Southern University (25-20, 25-21) that secured it a spot in the Championship Power Pool but suffered a close loss against Syracuse University (25-16, 24-26, 17-19).

The second day of the competition saw both teams vying for a coveted spot in the gold brackets of their respective divisions. The women’s team, having already secured a spot in the Championship Power Pool, only needed a single win to earn a spot in the gold bracket. Although the team lost its first round match to Ohio of Miami’s B-Side team (21-25, 25-13, 12-15), the team secured a spot by trouncing Georgetown University (25-19, 25-20).

The men’s team had to duke it out within the Challenge Power Pool to earn a spot within the Championship Power Pool, but a loss against the University of Buffalo (25-23, 22-25, 15-9) dropped the team into the Consolation Power Pool for the right to compete at the Silver Bracket. The team had to win both matches within the Consolation Pool to contend at the Silver Bracket and the loss against Northern Illinois University (25-19, 21-25, 10-15) dropped the team down further into the Bronze Bracket, despite the decisive win against UC Santa Barbara (25-19, 25-20).

On the third day, the women’s team was dealt a decisive blow by Toledo University (14-25, 15-25) and left the girls with a ninth place finish in the Division II Gold Bracket, a first in the team’s six-year history. The men’s team was also beaten in the first round of the Bronze Bracket by Northeastern University’s A-Side team (25-19, 18-25, 15-12).

Justin Tejada can be reached at [email protected]