SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State opened its three-day, seven-team sand volleyball tournament by splitting a pair of matches on Friday afternoon at the Sacramento Softball Complex. The Hornets opened tournament play by defeating San Jose State, 4-1, before falling later in the day to San Francisco by a 4-1 score.
With the split, the Hornets moved their record to 3-7 this season. Sacramento State will play twice more on Saturday and twice on Sunday in the season-ending tournament. Joining Sacramento State, San Jose State and San Francisco at the tournament are Boise State, Pacific, Cal and Cal Poly. In today's other two matchups, Boise State posted a 3-2 victory over San Francisco and 4-1 against San Jose State. Six more matches will take place tomorrow, beginning at 10 a.m. as Sacramento State will take on Pacific and Cal against Boise State. For a complete tournament schedule, click here.
The Hornets have now defeated San Jose State twice this season by identical 4-1 scores while Sacramento State is 1-1 against the Dons.
In the victory against San Jose State, the Hornets shuffled their lineups drastically and got victories from Kayla Beal and Morgan Stanley at No. 1 (16-21, 21-17, 15-9), Madeline Cannon and Lexie Skalbeck at No. 2 (21-14, 21-15), Lauren Aikels and Hannah Meadows at No. 4 (21-15, 13-21, 16-14), and Kennedy Kurtz and Brigitte Murdock at No. 5 (21-11, 21-8).
The combinations of Beal/Stanley and Cannon/Skalbeck were playing with each other for the first time all season, while Aikels/Meadows played together for just the second time. The Spartans dropped to 0-11 with the loss.
In the matchup with San Francisco (6-5), the Hornets switched back to their usual doubles lineups as Shannon Boyle and Skalbeck were the lone victors for Sacramento State, posting a 21-17, 23-25, 15-12 win at No. 3. The duo of Boyle and Skalbeck is now a team-best 5-4 this season, including a 4-3 record when playing at No. 3. That includes wins in four of their last six matches.
Sacramento State also kept things close at No. 1 where Beal and Sloan Lovett lost, 15-13, in the third set, and at No. 2 where Cannon and Stanley fell by 21-18, 21-17 scores.
After tomorrow morning's match against Pacific, the Hornets will also play against Cal at 4 p.m. On Sunday, Sacramento State will take on both Cal Poly (10 a.m.) and Boise State (1 p.m.).
Sacramento State 4, San Jose State 1
1. Kayla Beal/Morgan Stanley (SAC) def. Bre Moreland/Nandyala Gama (SJS), 16-21, 21-17, 15-9
2. Madeline Cannon/Lexie Skalbeck (SAC) def. Summer Avery/Julie Sam (SJS), 21-14, 21-15
3. Allison Meehan/Jamie Hirai (SJS) def. Shannon Boyle/Lauren Kissell (SAC), 21-13, 17-21, 15-11
4. Lauren Aikels/Hannah Meadows (SAC) def. Sara Hibbs/Yavianliz Rosado (SJS), 21-15, 13-21, 16-14
5. Kennedy Kurtz/Brigitte Murdock (SAC) def. Breann Robisnon/Samantha Pereira (SJS), 21-11, 21-8
San Francisco 4, Sacramento State 1
1. Valentina Zaloznik/Courtney Sabahi (USF) def. Kayla Beal/Sloan Lovett (SAC), 12-21, 21-12, 15-13
2. Jessica Gaffney/Sara Staengle (USF) def. Madeline Cannon/Morgan Stanley (SAC), 21-18, 21-17
3. Shannon Boyle/Lexie Skalbeck (SAC) def. Oluoma Okaro/Kiara McKibben (USF), 21-17, 23-25, 15-12
4. Anja Segota/Jessica Keenan (USF) def. Lauren Aikels/Lauren Kissell (SAC), 21-14, 21-17
5. Katarina Pilepic/Emily Reed (USF) def. Brigitte Murdock/Kennedy Kurtz (SAC), 21-11, 22-20
