FRESNO, Calif. — Outside hitters Sloan Lovett (18) and Lauren Kissell (13) combined for 33 kills, and setter Kennedy Kurtz added six kills and a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage as Sacramento State beat Fresno State, 3-1 (18-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-22), in the third round of the Bulldog Volleyball Showdown.

With the victory, the Hornets improved to 9-1 overall this season and 3-0 at the two-day, four-match tournament being hosted by Fresno State. Sacramento State defeated both Central Michigan and UC Riverside by 3-1 scores yesterday. The Hornets wrap up tournament play later this evening at 5 p.m. against Cal State Fullerton.

Sacramento State has now won eight straight matches, the team's longest streak since the 2007 squad ripped off 15 straight victories. The Hornets' 9-1 record also ties the best mark after 10 matches in school history. The only teams in the Div. I era (1991-pres.) to start a season 9-1 were this year's squad and the 1995 team.

The win came over a Fresno State squad (5-5 overall) that had been 2-0 at the tournament, and also clinched the Bulldog Showdown championship for the Hornets regardless of tonight's outcome vs. Cal State Fullerton.

Sacramento State was better than Fresno State statistically in nearly every category, including kills (58-46), hitting percentage (.270-.138), assists (49-36), digs (78-72) and team blocks (9.0-5.0). The Hornets never trailed during the final two sets.

"Today's win was really a team effort," Sacramento State head coach Ruben Volta said. "We did everything well, and I thought our defense and blocking really came to life. Although our number of blocks weren't extremely high, we got our hands on a number of balls."

Not only did the Hornets get solid performances from their outside hitters and setter, middle blockers Madeline Cannon (8 kills, 4 blocks, .273 hitting percentage) and Courtney Dietrich (5 kills, 5 blocks, .400 hitting percentage) also played well. Add in libero Lexie Skalbeck's match-high 28 digs, defensive specialist Julia Wright's career-high tying 14 digs, and rightside hitter Shannon Boyle's six kills and 12 digs, and you have a complete team effort.

Lovett, who is a fourth-year senior and team co-captain, finished with 18 kills, two blocks and a .342 hitting percentage. The 18 kills were a match best, and tied her season high. Kissell's 15 kills accompanied two blocks and a .244 hitting percentage as the senior has at least 12 kills in all but two matches this year.

Not only did Kurtz's six kills tie a career high, she did in six attempts, while also posting 41 assists, five digs and two blocks. One of those kills came on match point after the Bulldogs had closed to within, 24-22. Dietrich (.381) and Kurtz (.359) have the team's top two hitting percentages this season.

Each of the Hornets' last five wins, and seven of the team's nine victories have come by 3-1 scores. In addition, Sacramento State is now 4-1 when dropping the first set of a match this season.

For Fresno State, which had 24 errors in 160 attacks, Aleisha Coates' 14 kills led the way while Zana Bowens had 12 kills and 16 digs.