SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Senior Lauren Kissell had a career-high 25 kills, including four kills in the decisive fifth set, as the Hornets defeated Southern Utah, 3-2 (25-14, 25-18, 19-25, 17-25, 15-10), in a Big Sky Conference volleyball match Thursday evening at Colberg Court.

Tonight marked the Big Sky opener for both teams. The Hornets improved their record to 14-2 overall, 1-0 in the league and 4-1 at home. Sacramento State, which had its 12-match winning streak snapped on Saturday against Santa Clara, has now won 13 of its last 14 matches. The 14-2 record is the best after 16 contests since the 1995 squad had a 15-1 record. The Hornets will conclude their season-long five-match homestand on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against league rival Northern Arizona.

With the loss, Southern Utah dropped to 9-5 overall and 0-1 in league. The Hornets were able to get a little revenge on a Thunderbird squad that swept the season series last year, winning both matches between the two teams in the fifth set by 15-13 scores.

The Hornets were playing without sophomore Shannon Boyle (back), who is currently third on the team in kills per set and second in digs per set. Tonight also marked the first time all season Sacramento State was forced to a fifth set.

Kissell, who hit .408 in the match (25-5-49) accounted for over 40 percent of the Hornets' 60 kills, and was nearly unstoppable all evening. The 25 kills were seven more than any other player on the floor, and eclipsed her previous career high of 23 kills, set last season at home in the season finale against Southern Utah.

The Hornets hit .406, .289 and .292, respectively, in their victorious sets, but failed to hit better than .167 in their third and fourth set losses. Overall, Sacramento State hit .225 (compared to .208 for Southern Utah) and led the Thunderbirds in kills (60-58), assists (57-55), and team blocks (10.0-8.0). All five sets were won in convincing fashion as the entire match featured just six lead changes.

In the fifth set, Sacramento State jumped out to a 6-1 lead and never trailed the entire way. Kissell (4 kills, .333) and outside hitter Morgan Stanley (3 kills, .500) accounted for seven of the Hornets' nine kills in the frame, and fittingly, the match ended on a Kissell kill.

"We knew it would be a tough match because they've played well against us in the past," Sacramento State head coach Ruben Volta said. "We played so well in the first two sets, especially our passing and our offense. However, that went away and Southern Utah started playing very good defense in the third and fourth sets.

"I was happy with the way we responded in the fifth set. So far this year, when we've needed to respond, we've done a good job and I was confident we'd be able to get back to playing the game at a high level in that fifth set."

Four Hornets had at least nine kills, as the quartet of Kissell (25), Sloan Lovett (10 kills, 8 digs), Stanley (10 kills, 8 digs, season-high 5 blocks) and Madeline Cannon (9 kills, 3 blocks) combined for 54 of the Hornets' 60 kills. Courtney Dietrich added a match-high six blocks and setter Kennedy Kurtz had three kills, a .750 hitting percentage, 51 assists, nine digs and two blocks. Lexie Skalbeck had a team-high 16 digs, and Stanley had two of the Hornets' five aces.

For Southern Utah, Taylor Heine had 12 kills and a .438 hitting percentage, and Ann Clappier had 10 kills and a .438 hitting percentage. However, Heine and Clappier combined for just one kill in a fifth set that saw the Thunderbirds hit just .083. Joining the pair in double-figure kills for Southern Utah were Madi Forsythe (18 kills) and Chennin Benson (10 kills).