Sacramento State volleyball lost to the University of Idaho, 3-2 to end a road trip at 1-3.

Sac State (16-5 overall, 3-3 in the Big Sky Conference) remain in third place behind and Northern Arizona (15-4, 5-1 in the Big Sky) and Idaho State (14-6, 6-0 in Big Sky).

The Hornets got off to a strong start winning the first set 25-14. Idaho scored the first two points, but the Hornets would score the next three to take the lead and they kept it for the remainder of the set. The team had a hitting percentage of .500 on the set and had only one attack error. Lauren Kissell had six kills which led the team. Morgan Stanley had three kills and two service aces.

Kissell finished her night with 23 kills and a hitting percentage of .447. Kissell’s 23 kills is second only to her 25 kill performance against Southern Utah University Sept. 24 and it’s the fifth time she has had over 20 kills in a match this season.

Sac State looked poised to win the second set with a 16-24 lead, but Idaho came back in dramatic fashion scoring 10 straight on the Hornets to tie the match 1-1. Seven of the 20 points Idaho scored on the set ending run came on attack errors by the Hornets. Sac State led the entire set until the Vandals surpassed them 25-24 score. After hitting .500 with only one error in the first set, the Hornets hit only .182 in the second set with nine attack errors.

“They played well,” said Sac State coach Ruben Volta. “We started not passing well and we couldn’t close the game out.”

The intensity picked up in the third set with seven tied scores and four lead changes. Sac State played most of the set close behind Idaho, but finally tied it at 19-19, with an ace from Kennedy Kurtz. Idaho responded with a 6-1 run to win the match 25-20. The Hornets overall hit .231 and had five attack errors on the set.

The fourth set was hard fought between both teams with both the Hornets and Vandals having several match points. The Hornets won 29-27 to force the match to go a full five games. Sac State hit much better with a .317 hitting percentage.

Idaho started the fifth set with a 7-1 lead. Sac State would not be able to recover eventually losing the set 15-9. Idaho had a hitting percentage of .317 with 16 errors. Sac State ended the night with a .267 hitting percentage and 24 attack errors. They had nine service aces with Kurtz and Morgan Stanley both getting three of their own.

The Hornets come home to face the University of Northern Colorado (7-12 overall, 3-3 in Big Sky) on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.