Sac State volleyball starts 0-2 in Big Sky Conference
Hornets experience losses on the road
The Sacramento State women’s volleyball team huddles with their stingers up during a timeout in a game against CSU Northridge in the Sacramento State invitational tournament on Sept. 10, 2021. The team lost both of their first Big Sky conference games over the weekend, 2-3 in the first match against Idaho State and 1-3 in its match against Weber State.
September 25, 2021
The Hornets lost the first two games of the season, putting them at 0-2 in the Big Sky Conference.
The Hornets lost in their first game against Idaho State in a comeback performance on Thursday.
The Hornets and Idaho State came into the match hungry for a win as it was the first Big Sky conference game of the season for both teams. The Hornets won the first two sets but could not maintain momentum and lost in a comeback victory by Idaho State.
“It’s tough,” said head coach Ruben Volta. “We started making errors, and the home team got excited and started playing well. We were in a dog fight there and unfortunately lost.”
The first two sets were big for the Hornets but were not enough to win. Junior middle blocker Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin had four kills on five attacks in the first set alone. In the second set, Idaho State began to show out and made the Hornets earn the second set win 25-23.
Idaho State by the end of the third had 11 blocks, which allowed them to prevent the Hornets from scoring. A huge 20-3 scoring run helped Idaho State secure their first set win.
Idaho State got it rolling by finishing with a .357 hit percentage in the set and began to force a comeback. The Hornets came into the match leading the Big Sky in blocks per set, but their performance did not reflect that.
The Bengals continued their hot streak and held a lead in the entire fourth, winning that set 25-20. Idaho State capitalized on the Hornets’ 37 errors while limiting their own errors to 13 in the match.
“I don’t think we underestimated them,” Volta said. “They started playing better, and we started making errors. It turned the tides back a little bit.”
The Bengals were able to force a fifth set and finish off the Hornets 15-12.
Hornet sophomore outside hitter Bridgette Smith finished with 15 kills and eight digs in the match, a team-high. Senior outside hitter Macey Hayden put up a double-double with 11 kills along with 11 digs.
Idaho State’s senior middle blocker Kaia Rhodes finished with six kills and sophomore outside hitter Kennedee Tracy finished with 15.
In the second game of the road trip on Saturday, the Hornets went up against Weber State, the defending Big Sky conference champions.
The first set was back and forth , but Sac State managed to win what would be its only victory in the 3-1 match.
Sac State stayed within striking distance, but Weber State was able to hold the advantage by playing strong on serves and giving up fewer points on errors than the Hornets.
In sets two and three, the Hornets struggled with 31 errors.
At the end of the fourth set, Sac State nearly forced a fifth with a clutch point from Smith. Weber State’s senior outside hitter Rylin Adams had 23 of 52 team kills, which outmatched the Hornets’ 43.
The home team was able to finish with a .223 hitting average and held the Hornets to a .075 average on the night.
The Hornets have played six road games in a row and will continue to next week.
Sac State will play its next Big Sky match against Eastern Washington on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m.
