Sacramento State’s volleyball team suffered a critical loss to the Idaho State University Bengals in a five-game match on Saturday.

The Hornets lost in five games, 25-15, 14-25, 25-23, 23-25 and 13-15. Head coach Ruben Volta, middle blocker and opposite hitter Maddison Thivierge and middle blocker Kelsey Elston said the Idaho State game was just not their game for several reasons.

Volta said he didn’t think the team played their best in a lot of areas and the match wasn’t a great defensive match either. He said although the Hornets began the game attacking well, they didn’t finish well and lacked some focus.

“I think just having some vision, seeing the game a little better and we just didn’t play the game with very good control,” Volta said.

Thivierge said it comes down to being consistent and staying competitive the entire match. She said the team did well at some points, but then struggled at other times in the game.

“I think the weakness (of the game) was that we just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities,” Thivierge said. “But I think we had moments where we played really well and competed and we had moments where we just weren’t on top of our game.”

Elston thought they played more of Idaho State’s style of volleyball verses their own style, which is serving well and playing strong defense. She said the Hornets’ defense was just off during the match.

Elston and Thivierge both see consistency in the game as an important factor of the game.

“I guess you could say that every aspect of the game just kind of wasn’t going our way completely,” Elston said. “It was just up and down verses steady the whole time.”

Elston and Volta said the Hornets expected Idaho State to play really well on the road.

“Idaho State is a team that comes in on away games and really plays well,” Elston said. “We went to five at their place so we knew what was coming, but we couldn’t find a groove that was consistent enough for us.”

Even after the loss to Idaho State, the Hornets are still in fourth place in the Big Sky standings. The top four teams play in the Big Sky tournament but Idaho State, currently in fifth place, moved within one match of overtaking the Hornets.

The Hornets have four matches remaining this season. The last two matches are on the road, a tough task for a team that Volta says doesn’t play well on the road.

The Hornets return to Colberg Court on Thursday against Montana State.

Nicole Bee can be reached at [email protected].