FRESNO, Calif. -- Middle hitters Madeline Cannon (10 kills, .389 hit%) and Courtney Dietrich (7 kills, 5 blocks, .778 hit%) both had big matches while leading Sacramento State to a 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-15, 14-25, 25-19) over UC Riverside in the second round of the Bulldog Volleyball Showdown at the Save Mart Center.

The win allowed the Hornets to win their seventh consecutive match, the program's longest winning streak since the 2007 squad reeled off 15 straight victories. In addition, Sacramento State's 8-1 record ties for the best start after nine matches in program history, as the 1981, 1989 and 1995 teams also accomplished the feat. It marks just the second time during the Div. I era (1991-pres.) that a Hornet volleyball squad has been 8-1.

Sacramento State opened the tournament earlier this afternoon with a 3-1 victory over Central Michigan, and will bring a 2-0 tourney record into the final day of play tomorrow. The Hornets will take on host Fresno State (12:30 p.m.) and Cal State Fullerton (5 p.m.) on Saturday.

During the winning streak, the Hornets have defeated San Jose State, CSU Bakersfield, UC Riverside (3-6), Central Michigan, UNC Wilmington, Campbell and Norfolk State. Each of the team's last four victories and six of the seven during the winning streak have come by 3-1 scores. Sacramento State has yet to play a five-set match this season.

Making today's pair of victories even more impressive is the Hornets were able to win without the services of sophomore rightside hitter Shannon Boyle who has been battling a back injury. Entering the tournament, Boyle was second on the team in digs and third in kills.

The Hornets, who were outhit by the Highlanders, .261-.219, had a season-high 13 aces in tonight's match. That included three aces each from setter Kennedy Kurtz, outside hitter Sloan Lovett, rightside hitter Morgan Stanley and libero Lexie Skalbeck. For the second straight match, Stanley started in place of Boyle on the right side, and responded with seven kills, 10 digs and three aces.

In the first set, Sacramento State held a slim advantage (17-16) before closing the frame on an 8-4 run. In the fourth, the Hornets broke open an 18-18 tie by going on a 7-1 run to clinch the set and match.

"Our middle hitters played well all day, and we were able to serve tough and put a lot of pressure on our opponents," Sacramento State head coach Ruben Volta said. "We played really well at important times of both matches today. When we needed a kill, pass, dig or tough serve, we were able to come through.

"Obviously its nice to have a lengthy winning streak, but I'm more excited about how hard we have competed in every match this year and how we are figuring out how to win as a team."

Cannon's 10 kills came with a .389 hitting percentage (10-3-18), three digs and an ace. Dietrich continued her torrid play with seven kills, no errors and nine attempts, good for a massive .778 hitting percentage. The hitting percentage was the best of her career in matches with at least five kills. In addition, her five blocks were a match high. Over her last seven contests, Dietrich has combined to hit .438, and has hit better than .360 five times.

Lovett joined Cannon with double figures in kills as the fourth-year senior and team co-captain had 11 kills and accounted for a team-best 14.5 points. Kurtz had four kills, an .800 hitting percentage (4-0-5), 32 assists, three aces, six digs and a block, and outside hitter Lauren Kissell had six kills and a block. Skalbeck had a team-high 13 digs and true freshman Skyler Takeda added seven digs.

The Hornets had just one more kill (47-46) and team block (5.0-4.0) than Riverside, and were outdug, 54-45, but held a huge advantage in the service ace department (13-6).

For the Highlanders, Helena Peric led the way with 15 kills while Alexis Urbach had 11 kills and Maddie Hubbell 16 digs.