SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Senior outside hitter Lauren Kissell had a career-high 26 kills to go along with a .469 hitting percentage to lead Sacramento State to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-10) victory over Northern Colorado in a Big Sky Conference volleyball matchup Thursday evening at Colberg Court.

Kissell surpassed her previous career high of 25 kills, set earlier this year against Southern Utah. The Stockton, Calif., native had 26 kills with just three errors in 49 attacks while also tallying three aces and a pair of blocks. Two of those attack errors came on her first three swings of the match, as she was absolutely dominant after the early miscues. Coincidentally, Kissell's aces in the match were the first three of her career as a Hornet. Kissell continues to shred the opposition at home, as she is now averaging 5.07 kills per set and a .438 hitting percentage in seven matches inside the friendly confines.

Sophomore setter Kennedy Kurtz was impressive all evening, finishing just three kills shy of a triple-double. That included 44 assists, 11 digs, and a career-high seven kills to go along with a .778 hitting percentage (7-0-9) and two blocks. She ran a Hornet offense that finished the match with a .320 hitting percentage, the fourth highest mark of the season.

Tonight's contests marked the first at home for Sacramento State in nearly two weeks, and was the first of a four-match homestand that will also see the team host Portland State on Saturday at 7 p.m.

With the victory, Sacramento State (17-5, 4-3) got back in the win column after dropping a pair of matches on the road last week. The Hornets' 17-5 record is the best after 22 matches since the 2007 team was 19-3, and the team improved to 6-1 at home this year. Sacramento State is also 3-0 at home against conference competition with three straight home matches on the slate spanning the next nine days.

The Bears, who had won three of their last four, dropped to 7-13 overall and 3-4 in the Big Sky. The Hornets are now 10-13 all-time against Northern Colorado, including a 7-4 mark when playing in Sacramento.

After dropping the first set, it was all Hornets from that point forward, as Sacramento State hit .324, .333 and .458 in the final three sets, respectively. The Hornets finished the match with a sizeable advantage in kills (61-48) while limiting Northern Colorado to a .206 hitting percentage. After the Bears won the first set, their largest lead the rest of the evening came at 2-0 early in the third frame.

Kissell wasn't the only Sacramento State outside hitter to have a big night as senior Sloan Lovett finished with 14 kills and a .282 hitting percentage. Middle blocker Madeline Cannon added five kills, four blocks and a .333 hitting percentage while true freshman middle blocker Brie Gathright had four blocks. Libero Lexie Skalbeck finished with 22 digs, seven more than any other player from either team. The junior from Portland is now just five digs shy from recording her 1,000th career dig. Defensive specialists Brigitte Murdock (9) and Julia Wright (8) combined for 17 digs.

"Our outside hitters were very good tonight and seemed to frustrate Northern Colorado's defense," Sacramento State head coach Ruben Volta said. "Especially Lauren Kissell, she had a monster night. Not only did we attack well, I thought we passed well and played good defense.

"We had a tough time on the road last week, and there may have been a residual effect in the first set tonight, but I also thought Northern Colorado played very well in that set. But I was happy with the way we settled in, the confidence started flowing, the crowd got behind us, and we started making big plays. It always feels good to play in front of our home fans."

For Northern Colorado, Kortney Lockey finished with 15 kills and a .351 hitting percentage, Emily O'Neil had seven kills and a .545 hitting percentage, and Kendra Cunningham had 13 kills, 14 digs and four blocks. The Bears hit just .206, including a -.045 percentage in the fourth and final set.

After Saturday's matchup with Portland State, the Hornets conclude the homestand next week against both Montana State (Oct. 22) and Montana (Oct. 24).