Results from the tournament/Sunday's schedule
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State got victories from the doubles teams of Madeline Cannon/Morgan Stanley (No. 2), Shannon Boyle/Lexie Skalbeck (No. 3) and Kennedy Kurtz/Hannah Meadows (No. 4) to defeat Cal, 3-2, and highlight the Hornets' second day of their sand volleyball tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Sacramento Softball Complex.
Earlier in the day, the Hornets fell to 13th-ranked Pacific by a 5-0 score. Today's matches were part of a three-day, seven-team tournament that will see the Hornets play twice tomorrow. Thus far, Sacramento State is 2-2 at the tournament, including a win over San Jose State and loss to San Francisco yesterday. Overall, the Hornets moved their record to 4-8 this season.
Since Sacramento State added sand volleyball prior to the 2013 season, the Hornets are now 4-2 against Cal. That includes at least one victory in each of those three season; 2-0 in 2013, 1-1 in 2014, and 1-1 this season. Perhaps most impressive about today's win against Cal, of the 10 Hornets used in the match, eight were underclassmen (four freshmen, four sophomores).
"I was happy the way we competed today," Sacramento State Co-Sand Volleyball Head Coach Ruben Volta said. "As the Cal match went on, our players adjusted well to some windy conditions and understood how to use it to their advantage. We are young, but all of our doubles teams continue to work hard and play with better consistency."
The Hornets began the match against Cal by splitting matchups at No. 4 and No. 5, as the freshmen tandem of Kurtz and Meadows won at No. 4 by a 21-17, 21-19 score. Boyle and Skalbeck then gave the Hornets a 2-1 lead with a 21-16, 21-19 victory at No. 3. Boyle and Skalbeck, who are a freshman and sophomore, respectively, moved their record to 6-5 this season, including five wins in their last eight matches together.
The match-clinching point came from the sophomore duo of Cannon and Stanley as they posted a 21-19, 21-17 victory at No. 2. The win for the Hornets also avenged a loss earlier this season to Cal (5-0) on March 7 at the NorCal Invitational at Stanford.
A total of 10 matches have been played during the first two days of the tournament thus far, and three more remain tomorrow as Sacramento State will play Cal Poly at 10 a.m., and Boise State at 1 p.m. Those two matches are the last of the sand season for the Hornets.
For tomorrow's schedule, and results from the matches played at the tournament thus far, please click here.
Sacramento State 3, California 2
1. Emily Lunt/Sarah Cole (Cal) def. Kayla Beal/Sloan Lovett (SAC), 18-21, 21-12, 15-9
2. Madeline Cannon/Morgan Stanley (SAC) def. Emily Shults/Bryce Bark (Cal), 21-19, 21-17
3. Shannon Boyle/Lexie Skalbeck (SAC) def. Inanna Eshoo/Katie Regalis (Cal), 21-16, 21-19
4. Kennedy Kurtz/Hannah Meadows (SAC) def. Allison Leong/Teya Neff (Cal), 21-17, 21-19
5. Sammy Furlan/Mackenzie Feldman (Cal) def. Courtney Dietrich/Brigitte Murdock (SAC), 21-8, 21-12
Pacific 5, Sacramento State 0
1. Anne-Sophie Bauer/Lexi Elman (PAC) def. Kayla Beal/Sloan Lovett (SAC), 16-21, 21-15, 15-8
2. Mia Feiner/Gillian Howard (PAC) def. Madeline Cannon/Morgan Stanley (SAC), 21-17, 21-16
3. Alicja Wilk/Kimmy Whitson (PAC) def. Shannon Boyle/Lexie Skalbeck (SAC), 22-20, 15-21, 15-11
4. Maycie LaBass/Megan Birch (PAC) def. Lauren Aikels/Lauren Kissell (SAC), 21-14, 21-8
5. Taylor Poncetta/Andie Shelton (PAC) def. Brigitte Murdock/Kennedy Kurtz (SAC), 21-15, 21-8
