Sacramento State volleyball split their Big Sky Conference road matchups this weekend against Weber State and Idaho State.

The Hornets got things started Friday night when they took on Weber State (5-17, 1-7) in Ogden, Utah. Sac State pulled out a gutsy five set victory (24-26, 25-17, 29-27, 14-25, 15-12) to put themselves at 9-9 overall, with a conference mark of 4-3.

Head coach Ruben Volta was proud of the way his team battled on the court.

“I was really pleased because Weber State played really well tonight,” Volta said. “We may have bent at times but we didn’t break.”

He cited the productivity of the team practice this week as a factor in the victory.

“I think we had a really good practice on Wednesday,” Volta said. “I thought the team competed really well against each other and that definitely played out on the court tonight.”

Senior right-side hitter Kayla Beal led the team with a 19 kill effort, followed by sophomore outside hitter Sloan Lovett who finished with 17.

Freshman middle blocker Courtney Dietrich had another solid performance for the Hornets, giving coach Volta the belief that she will play a bigger role down the stretch.

“I certainly do believe she will play a bigger role,” Volta said. “She’s a really good attacker and if we continue to pass well she’ll get a chance to see more balls, but she is playing really aggressively.”

Freshman middle blocker Megan Bean had 11 kills and a .364 hitting percentage to help Weber State’s cause, while sophomore outside hitter Rebecca Fuchs had 16 kills.

At the end of the night, the Hornets would round up team totals of 57 kills and a .198 hitting percentage, while the Wildcats finished with 58 kills and a .154 percentage. Sac State took advantage of their opposition, who committed 33 errors collectively.

The team would travel to Pocatello, Idaho Saturday night to take on the Idaho State University Bengals, in what would turn out to be a frustrating evening.

The Hornets dropped to 9-10 (4-4) as they were unable to overcome the attack of the Bengals, who improved to 12-7 overall, and 6-2 in conference play.

Idaho State won in straight sets (25-18, 25-23, 25-13), as they remained tied for second place in the Big Sky.

Beal turned in a quality performance for the second consecutive match as she finished the night with a match-high 16 kills and a .452 hitting percentage.

Sophomore middle blocker Makenzie Filer produced a solid performance for the Bengals as she led the way with 14 kills and a .650 hitting percentage.

The Hornet’s defensive struggles were put into perspective as Idaho State finished with 49 kills and hit .378 as a team.

Sacramento State was unable to get into the flow of things, concluding the evening with 36 kills and a .241 percentage.

The Hornets will return home to Colberg Court Friday as they play host to Montana (7-10, 4-4), followed by Montana State (5-14, 3-5) Saturday.