Sacramento State women’s volleyball kicked off their first away tournament in Cedar Rapids, Utah, winning their first game of the season and taking two games out of three.
The Hornets started the first game of a doubleheader on Friday against the UC Riverside Highlanders in a back-and-forth game that went into the fifth set. The fifth set began with junior libero Reese Ampi serving 11 straight points.
“It felt good [to win],” head coach Ruben Volta said. “I don’t think we played great that match, but it was certainly good to get the win.”
The Hornets carried over some of that momentum into the second game against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds by taking all three sets, only one of which was close.
For the third and final game on Saturday, the Hornets had to travel an hour away to take on the Utah Tech Trailblazers in St. George. The game was close with the Hornets and Trailblazers trading sets, but ultimately ended up with the Trailblazers winning the clinching set.
Game 1: Sac State: 3, UC Riverside: 2
Sac State and UC Riverside traded the first three sets, with Riverside holding a 2-1 advantage. Sac State came back and won the last two sets to win the game.
“We got better as the match went on,” Volta said.
Riverside led 5-1 in the fourth set as they tried to secure the victory, but a pair of back-to-back kills from senior middle blocker Ashlynn Archer put the Hornets right back in the game. The Highlanders maintained the lead 10-7, until the Hornets went on a run started by two more kills from sophomore outside hitter Victoria Marthaler that put them up 11-10.
“[Marthaler has] been a really good attacker for us,” Volta said. “She’s super physical. She hits the ball really hard. We’ve used her in the front row, and she’s attacked out of the back row. It’s not really a surprise. She does the same thing in practice.”
The Hornets did not trail again in the fourth set, winning 25-21.
The Hornets were on fire for the beginning of the fifth set. Sac State scored 11 straight points, with Archer and Marthaler combining for seven of those points. The Hornets cruised to a fifth set victory 15-6, clinching the win.
Archer finished with 16 kills and six blocks, while senior setter Kate Doorn finished with 32 assists and a career-high six blocks.
Game 2: Sac State: 3, Southern Utah: 0
Sac State dominated their second game of the day against Southern Utah start to finish, sweeping in three sets.
“I think you always feel good after a win,” Volta said. “A little bounce in your step maybe, but you still got to stand there and play against them.”
The Thunderbirds only led three times throughout the whole game. The Hornets held the advantage in kills (43-29), assists (41-27), digs (41-28) and blocks (9-6).
Sac State went on a 4-0 and 5-0 run in the first set alone, getting kills from senior outside hitter Greta Davis, freshman middle backer Kelsey Heffner, Doorn and Marthaler.
The second and third set started off the same way, with the Hornets being down 3-1 before coming back and never giving up the lead again.
For the third time this season, Marthaler set her career-high in kills, ending the game with 19. .
Game 3: Utah Tech: 3, Sac State: 2
Sac State and Utah Tech finished out the tournament with a game that went down to the wire, ending with a controversial call in the fifth set.
The first set began with the Hornets down 4-1 before storming back to take the lead 10-9 with a four-point run.The Hornets did not look back, taking the first set 25-19.
The second set consisted of the Trailblazers getting out to a 7-0 lead before trading runs with the Hornets, bringing it to 15-11. It was a team effort as five different Hornets scored.
The Trailblazers had answers of their own, ending the second set on a four-point run to win 25-23. After trading the third and fourth sets, drama ensued and the Hornets and Trailblazers found themselves tied up 14-14 in the fifth and final set.
The Trailblazers were called for an attack error to make it 15-14 in favor of the Hornets. Trailblazers coach Camilla Hafoka challenged the call, arguing that the Hornets had touched the ball.
The challenge was successful, giving the Trailblazers the 15-14 advantage. They went on to win 16-14 and clinched the victory.
“Obviously, you got to finish off an opponent,” Volta said. “They’re playing at home and they have good energy. There were a few plays there where it could’ve gone either way. I wish we could’ve held onto that [lead], but credit to Utah Tech. They played really well.”
Volta said he felt the team got much better throughout the weekend and credited the defense for that.
“If we can build on that, then I like where we’re at,” Volta said. “Reese Ampi had her career-high in digs today and I thought she was fantastic. Ashlynn Archer dominated the middle; she was unstoppable. I think we’ve got a lot to build off of here.”
Other players, like Marthaler, echoed similar optimism after a good tournament.
“We all put so much time this offseason to really work hard and put pressure on our opponents,” Marthaler said. “It’s really nice to see that work paying off on the court.”
According to Doorn, the time spent has paid dividends for the Hornets’ team chemistry.
“Team chemistry is really growing,” Doorn said. “Because we have a newer team, a goal throughout the preseason has been building setter-hitter connections. We saw huge growth this weekend and especially this last game.”
The Hornets are a young team with six freshmen and one transfer. They played a few different lineups, figuring out their team dynamic.
“There’s no doubt we’re younger in a lot of positions than we were last year, so we’re still trying to figure out what our lineups are going to be,” Volta said. “We mixed it up quite a bit.”
The vibes for Sac State are trending upward.
“I know things were going to click at some point and this weekend was definitely a great step for us,” Doorn said.
The Hornets (2-4) will try to keep the momentum going as they head out to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts for a tournament next weekend hosted by Boston College. They begin the tourney with Dartmouth on Thursday at 4 p.m. PT.
