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Sacramento State

Volleyball

VOLLEYBALL HITS THE 20-WIN MARK IN HOME SWEEP OF MONTANA

Box Score

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State's Sloan Lovett (14), Lauren Kissell (13) and Morgan Stanley (10) combined for 37 kills to lead the Hornets to a three-set sweep of Montana (25-14, 25-18, 25-20) in a Big Sky Conference volleyball matchup Saturday afternoon at Colberg Court.

The victory allowed the Hornets to sweep their four-match homestand and the team hit at least .320 in all four victories. That included a .361 percentage today as Sacramento State had 47 kills with just eight errors in 108 total attacks. Stanley was incredible, hitting a season-best .556 with 10 kills and no errors in 18 swings. She also added seven digs and an ace. Lovett (.379), Courtney Dietrich (four kills, .571) and Kissell (.297) also hit for high percentages.

Sacramento State improved to 20-5 overall, 7-3 in the Big Sky, and the team has won 20 matches for the first time since the 2007 season. The Hornets are now 9-1 inside the friendly confines, including a 6-0 mark against Big Sky opposition. Sacramento State has won six straight at home since its only loss on Colberg Court to Santa Clara (3-1) on Sept. 19.

The 20-5 record is the best after 25 matches since the 2007 squad was 21-4. In addition, the Hornets improved to 28-13 all-time against Montana, and snapped a three-match losing streak to the Griz. The Hornets are also 15-4 when the two teams play in Sacramento.

Montana, which had won two straight, saw is record fall to 6-16 overall and 2-8 in the Big Sky. Of those two recent victories for the Griz, one came at home against Eastern Washington (the Eagles' first conference loss of the season), and the other came Thursday night on the road at Portland State.

Lovett's 14 kills were a match high and the senior also added three aces. Dating back to her program record eight kills in eight swings performance on Thursday, Dietrich started this match with three straight kills before her fourth attempt was dug. That gave Dietrich an incredible run of 11 kills in 11 swings spanning parts of two matches. Kissell had five digs and a match-high tying four blocks to go with her 13 kills. Dietrich also had four blocks.

Setter Kennedy Kurtz had 35 assists, two kills, two aces and a team-high tying eight digs, Madeline Cannon had four kills and three blocks (two solo stuffs) and Julia Wright added eight digs. Libero Lexie Skalbeck had seven digs and two aces.

The Hornets hit better than .310 in all three sets, and were never really threatened by the Griz. The match ended in a swift one hour and 21 minutes, and Montana's largest lead of the afternoon was two points. The Griz did have a 17-16 lead in the third set before Sacramento State closed the frame on a 9-3 run to put the match away.

The Hornets had sizeable advantages over the Griz in kills (47-35), hitting percentage (.361-.223), assists (40-30), aces (9-0) and team blocks (8.0-3.0). Today marked the first time all season the Hornets have held an opponent without an ace. Including Thursday's three-set sweep of Montana State, the Hornets outscored the Montana schools this week in points by a wide 150-86 margin. In addition, the Hornets are now hitting .319 as a team at home.

Montana did not have a player finish with double figures in kills, but did have three players with healthy hitting percentages. That included Brianna Gardner (nine kills, .538), Mykaela Hammer (six kills, .545) and Capri Richardson (six kills, .545).

Sacramento State has just six matches remaining on the regular season schedule before the Big Sky Tournament on Nov. 19-21. Four of those contests will come on the road, including a trip next week to North Dakota on Thursday and Portland State on Saturday.

NOTES -- Today was Breast Cancer Awareness Day as the Hornets wore special pregame shirts, and Skalbeck's libero jersey was pink.

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Players Mentioned

Madeline Cannon

#5 Madeline Cannon

MB
6' 1"
Junior
Courtney Dietrich

#2 Courtney Dietrich

MB
6' 1"
Junior
Chelan HS
Lauren Kissell

#14 Lauren Kissell

OH
6' 0"
Senior
Kennedy Kurtz

#1 Kennedy Kurtz

S
5' 10"
Sophomore
Sloan Lovett

#11 Sloan Lovett

OH
5' 9"
Senior
Lexie Skalbeck

#10 Lexie Skalbeck

DS
5' 9"
Junior
Morgan Stanley

#3 Morgan Stanley

OH
5' 11"
Junior
Julia Wright

#6 Julia Wright

DS
5' 6"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Madeline Cannon

#5 Madeline Cannon

6' 1"
Junior
MB
Courtney Dietrich

#2 Courtney Dietrich

6' 1"
Junior
Chelan HS
MB
Lauren Kissell

#14 Lauren Kissell

6' 0"
Senior
OH
Kennedy Kurtz

#1 Kennedy Kurtz

5' 10"
Sophomore
S
Sloan Lovett

#11 Sloan Lovett

5' 9"
Senior
OH
Lexie Skalbeck

#10 Lexie Skalbeck

5' 9"
Junior
DS
Morgan Stanley

#3 Morgan Stanley

5' 11"
Junior
OH
Julia Wright

#6 Julia Wright

5' 6"
Sophomore
DS

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