Eastern Washington upsets Sac State volleyball team in 5 sets
Hornets drop to a tie for fourth place in the conference after home loss
Sac State junior middle blocker Cianna Andrews (left) and freshman outside hitter Kayla Subbert barely miss blocking against Eastern Washington at The Nest. Andrews had a total of nine successful blocks during Saturday’s loss.
November 2, 2019
Last-place Eastern Washington University defeated the Sacramento State volleyball team in the Hornets’ 11th five-set match of the season at The Nest Saturday afternoon.
After a big five-set win over the University of Idaho Thursday, the Hornets (12-13, 7-5 Big Sky Conference) found their play riddled with errors during the match against the Eagles (5-19, 3-9).
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“We lacked in a lot of consistency and we made a lot of errors,” head coach Ruben Volta said. “They served tough but we weren’t able to pass it, so that caused a lot of problems for us.”
Even with a slow start for the Hornets in a first set that saw nine tie scores, Sac State was able to pull away from Eastern Washington to take the win 25-17.
Sac State combined for a hitting percentage of .393 and limited Eastern Washington to just .036 in set one.
The Eagles came back out in set two and hit .324 compared to the Hornets’ mark of just .028. Their dominant hitting percentage and several Hornet errors led the Eagles to a 25-16 victory in set two.
“We should’ve talked more,” sophomore setter Ashtin Olin said. “We were just a little tense. We needed to relax a little bit and just play ahead of the game instead of behind the game.”
The Hornets took an early 8-2 lead in the third set and never looked back. Sac State held the lead for the entire set and won 25-16.
Set point Sac State.
The Hornets take set three 25-16.
Davis leads all players with 10 kills. Andrews has 6 kills, 6 blocks and is hitting .600.
Set four coming up. @SH_Sports pic.twitter.com/kjlns4IHpR
— robyn🦖 (@RobynDobson10) November 2, 2019
Set four saw another disappointing loss for the Hornets. Eastern Washington took a substantial 12-3 lead as the Hornets continued to make small errors.
“I think we struggled the most with execution in little areas,” senior outside hitter Sarah Davis said. “Passing at the right times, attacking at the right times and just putting the ball away when we needed to the most.”
Sac State saved six set points, but ultimately dropped set four 25-22, forcing a decisive fifth set.
Once again, the Eagles took an early lead, but the Hornets nearly clawed their way back. Davis recorded her 16th kill of the match to bring the score to 12-11.
The comeback proved to be too little too late as Eastern Washington defeated Sac State 15-12 and took the match win.
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Sac State freshman middle blocker Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin spikes the ball against Eastern Washington at The Nest during Saturday’s game. Kamba-Griffin scored a total of 5 kills, the third highest for her team on the day.
“I think we just weren’t consistent enough to finish the match,” Davis said. “They came out and they did their job and I just feel like we didn’t do our job today.”
Davis led all players in kills (16). Davis also recorded 15 digs and a pair of aces.
Junior middle blocker Cianna Andrews had 13 kills, a .600 hitting percentage and a career-high of nine blocks. Olin recorded 30 assists, 13 digs, two aces and two kills.
“I think we really need to work on staying consistent, working hard and playing as a team,” Davis said. “I think we have a lot to work on this week.”
Sac State’s next match is on the road, Thursday Nov. 7 at 5:30 p.m. against Northern Arizona University.