Sand volleyball wins first two matches of the season against Cal and Cal Poly

State Hornet Staff

The Sacramento State women’s sand volleyball team underwent changes to its lineup going into Saturday’s matches in Berkeley,Calif. against UC Berkeley and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo looking for its first victory of the season.

Not only did the Hornets get their first win of the season, but it won both matches by a final score of 3-2.

After starting the season 0-6, co-head coaches Ruben Volta and Jason Borchin made some changes to the lineup. All of the pairings were changed except for the No.1 duo of seniors Kayla Beal and Katie Aprile.

On Saturday, the No.2 pairing was freshman Madeline Cannon and sophomore Sloan Lovett and the No.3 was sophomore Lauren Aikels and senior Chelcy Motes, No.4 was freshmen Morgan Stanley and Kendall LaVine, and the No.5 was freshmen Lexie Skalbeck and Courtney Dietrich.

In the first match of the day against Cal, the Hornets and Golden Bears were nodded up at two going into the final match.

In a match between the No.1 pairings, Aprile and Beal pulled out the victory in three sets over Lara Vukasovic and Sarah Cole, 21-16, 18-21, 15-12. These two teams played last weekend at the Sacramento State Invitational, with Cal defeating Sac State 3-2.

The second match of the day against Cal Poly was very similar to the first. Once again the teams were tied at 2-2 going into the final match between No.1 pairings. The Hornets earned victories from Skalbeck and Dietrich who defeated Stacia Williams and Anna Gorman 21-18, 6-21, 19-17. Cannon and Lovett also won in straight sets against Jennifer Keddy and Katie Conroy, 21-17, 21-19.

Aprile and Beal defeated Nicole Kessler and Megan Groess 21-17, 21-11 in the decisive match.

Sac State will look to extend its winning streak Sunday in Stockton with two matches against University of the Pacific and Stanford. The Hornets play Pacific at 9 a.m. and Stanford at noon.