The Sacramento State Invitational kicked off with a clean sweep of Northridge, a comeback win against New Mexico State and a pile of awards at the end for the Sac State Hornets.

In the first match, the Hornets hosted the Northridge Matadors and won in a landslide. Their second match the following day showcased the Hornets roaring back from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2 against New Mexico State.

In their final game against the San Francisco Dons, the Hornets won 3-1 and secured the Sac State Invitational Championship.

With the tournament sweep the Hornets sit third in the Big Sky Conference with a 3-2 overall record.

Thursday: Sac State: 3, Northridge: 0

Sac State remained in control most of the match against Northridge, not allowing them to fight their way back.

The match started out close with the Hornets and Matadors sparring for the lead. It was tied at 11 before Sac State went on a 6-0 scoring run started by a Northridge attack error which gave them the lead.

Attack errors and defense were the main struggles for the Matadors in the first set, committing seven service errors and allowing eight kills. Sac State did not look back as they maintained the lead to win the first set 25-20 off a Northridge service error.

The second set started with a 7-7 score but that changed when Sac State head coach Ruben Volta won a ball touch challenge that gave the Hornets an offensive spark.

Sac State went on a 5-0 scoring run led by senior outside hitter Bridgette Smith who had two back-to-back kills to give the Hornets a 15-8 lead.

Smith made Hornet volleyball history, joining the top 10 list for career kills at Sac State on a kill set up by senior outside hitter Ellie Tisko that landed just inside the baseline.

“It feels awesome,” Smith said. “I’m excited, I couldn’t have done it without my team.”

Sac State won the second set 25-19 after a 3-0 scoring run that secured the win thanks to Tisko and junior middle blocker Ashlynn Archer shutting down Northridge with a set winning block assist.

In the third set, Northridge managed to cut into Sac State’s lead, but that ended with a kill by junior outside hitter Greta Davis. The kill led to three consecutive service aces for senior outside hitter Caitlin Volkmann, which gave the Hornets a 12-7 lead. Volkmann ended with six kills, six digs, five service aces and three blocks.

“We got on some long service runs,” Volta said. “I’m pretty happy because we struggled a little bit last week with that.”

Sophomore middle blocker Karlie Spohn brought the defense for Sac State and finished with three kills, four blocks and a .500 hitting percentage.

“I feel like we focused more on blocking and digging behind the block, so just getting up fast,” Spohn said.

Sac State continued to add to their lead and won the third set 25-16 off another Northridge attack error.

“It’s our first home game, so that’s really exciting,” Volkmann said. “We wanted to come and show everyone how we’re going to be this season and just start the season off right.”

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Friday: Sac State: 3, New Mexico State: 2

The night of game two, the Hornets hosted Childhood Cancer Awareness Night at The Nest with honorary captain Penelope Calabrese in attendance, a pediatric cancer survivor who has been cancer-free for over a year.

The match started out rough for the Hornets, with Sac State falling behind in the first two sets, but they wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“The first two sets I don’t think we fully had our foot on the gas and I think we just needed to figure out a way to turn that determination on,” Smith said.

In the first set, the Hornets started off strong with a 12-8 lead, but the Aggies came back with eight kills and five Hornet attack errors and won 25-23.

New Mexico State got out to an early 3-0 lead in the second set. The Hornets and Aggies continued to trade the lead until the Aggies managed to capitalize on the Hornets’ eight attack errors resulting in a 27-25 win.

Volkmann said the Hornets went into the team room after the second set and recognized that they are playing for something bigger than themselves.

“It’s a big night, obviously we have a teammate named Penelope who fought her battle and won, we’re so overwhelmed with happiness for her and her family,” Volkmann said.

Sac State came out of the rest period and started the third set on a mission, taking an early lead and not allowing the Aggies to send them home early.

“We talked about being a little tougher because the first two sets were right there too,” Volta said. “We had chances, we just talked tactically what we wanted to change and who and where we wanted to set a little better.”

The Hornets achieved a game high of 19 kills in the third set which led to a 25-18 win. Archer, Smith and Volkmann were responsible for 14 of those kills.

“A lot of us don’t want to leave a game regretting, so just go all out,” Volkmann said. “We trust each other, we trust ourselves.”

In the fourth set, New Mexico State started with an early 7-6 lead, but Sac State pulled ahead after Volkmann and senior outside hitter Ellie Tisko combined for three kills. The Hornets went on to win the fourth set 25-21.

The final set was close, but Volkmann sealed the Hornets 15-10 comeback win with a kill set up by senior setter Hailey Plugge. Volkmann ended the night with 22 kills and 16 digs.

Smith had 14 kills and 19 digs, making history for the second consecutive game by surpassing the 1,000 digs mark in her career at Sac State.

The Hornets outmatched the Aggies at every turn with 70 kills, 64 assists and 11 blocks to their 56 kills, 48 assists and eight blocks.

“I think the momentum will just carry over,” Volkmann said. “We know how it feels to fight and dig deep and now that we know that, we know what it takes for the rest of our games.”

Saturday: Sac State: 3, University of San Francisco: 1

Sac State defeated the University of San Francisco Dons in four sets, handing them their fourth loss of the season.

“As a coach you always hope momentum carries to the next game, but the reality is its new opponents and a new match,” Volta said. “We just have to be ready to play.”

The Hornets had 84 kills and 77 digs compared to the Dons 53 kills and 69 digs. Smith and Volkmann accounted for 40 of Sac State’s kills, while Smith and sophomore libero Reese Ampi accounted for 32 of their digs.

After sweeping the competition Sac State was named the champion of the Sac State Invitational.

Smith, Volkmann, and Archer were named to the all-tournament team and Smith and Volkmann were named co-MVPs.

The Hornets will head to University California, Davis to face their cross-town rivals, for their next match on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.