Sacramento State Volleyball lost against University of Idaho in a five-set battle Saturday night in the Nest 25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 19-25 and 6-15.

Idaho’s victory put them in first place in the Big Sky Conference at 12-3, and Sac State is now in third place at 10-4.

The Hornets had 56 kills against the Vandals 57, and had 86 digs and a total team hitting percentage of .195.

The Hornets won the first set 25-21, matching kills with the Vandals until the Hornets’ defense had three team blocks to Vandals’ zero, which helped win them win the set.

The second set ended 25-17 in the Hornets favor, with a series of kills from senior outside hitter Mikaela Nocetti and senior middle blocker Brie Gathright, which sealed an early lead that the Vandals didn’t recover from.

Idaho started a rally early into the third set, holding a 6-3 lead early. The Hornets climbed their way to 7-7 before the Vandals went to a comfortable 10-7. Playing from behind, the Hornets would try and claw back in, but the Vandals won 25-21.

RELATED: Sac State volleyball sweeps Eastern Washington

Nocetti said in the first two sets, the Hornets had more energy, and were passing and serving really well, but lost that energy going into set three.

“Our errors gave them the confidence to win that set,” Nocetti said.

In the fourth set, the Hornets called the first timeout with the Vandals leading 6-2. They traded points until the Vandals ultimately won 25-19.

In the fifth set, the Vandals took a quick 5-1 lead, and won 15-6.

Through the first two sets, Nocetti said that they were able to coordinate before a lot of their attacks. However, as the game went on, she said that the Vandals were able to read their attacks better.

“It comes with passing,” Nocetti said. “If you pass off the nets, it gets really hard, so you don’t have lot of options.”

Nocetti said she felt the team lost a lot of energy as the night went on.

“We just need to practice a lot harder,” Nocetti said. “Sometimes, during the week, we just don’t prepare. I think we need to focus on the intensity of practice, how competitive we make it with each other.”

Head coach Ruben Volta said that the season isn’t over, and that he is going to have the team focus on passing and serving going forward.

“We have to win some matches, and Idaho is going to need to lose some,” Volta said. “It’s just a matter of taking our next opponent on, and making sure we’re playing better.”

RELATED: Sac State volleyball sweeps Southern Utah on Saturday