The Sacramento State volleyball team was all smiles on Thursday night after its 3-0 sweep against the University of Montana Grizzlies at Colberg Court.
Not only does the win give the Hornets (9-8, 3-0 Big Sky) a three-game winning streak, but it does so for the first time against Big Sky opponents to start a season since 2007, according to Hornet Athletics.
“It certainly feels good,” Sac State head coach Ruben Volta said after the 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) victory. “We’ve got a big game on Saturday and we want to keep it going.”
With a total of 9 kills and 1 service ace, the match-winning point was delivered in the third set by senior outside hitter Madeline Cannon.
“I put in a lot of work in during the preseason,” Cannon said after making the transition from middle hitter (257 kills, 84 blocks) last season to outside hitter. “So it definitely felt really great to be able to make that winning point.”
As the Hornets prepare for another match this Saturday, the team hopes to keep their confidence and energy levels up.
“The energy tonight was really good,” junior setter Kennedy Kurtz said after totaling 4 kills and 9 digs against the Grizzlies. “We were fired up to be back home again.”
Even after the Grizzlies came back during the third set to tie at 22 points each, Kurtz, who earned Big Sky Conference Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 30, insisted that the best thing to do was to keep calm and play on.
“Everybody on the court stayed really calm,” Kurtz said. “I think we knew we had a big enough lead that we could hold them off.”
The Hornets will play Portland State University on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Portland, Oregon.
“They’ve beaten two Pac-12 teams and Long Beach State,” Kurtz said reflecting on the Hornets next contender. “We’re ready to play against an aggressive team.”
