SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In a match that lasted nearly two hours, it was a combo block from Sacramento State's Courtney Dietrich and Morgan Stanley on match point that ended an intense 3-1 victory over Northern Arizona in a Big Sky Conference volleyball match Saturday afternoon at Colberg Court. Final set scores were 25-17, 25-14, 23-25, 30-28.

In a contest that went back and forth over the final two sets, Northern Arizona was able to save four match points at 23-24, 24-25, 25-26 and 26-27. After saving a set point at 27-28, the Hornets reeled off three straight points on back-to-back Morgan Stanley kills, and the Dietrich/Stanley combo block, respectively. Stanley had four kills in the fourth set, and finished the match with 14 kills, 16 digs, a .256 hitting percentage and three blocks.

In addition, senior outside hitter Sloan Lovett had 16 kills, and increased her career total to 1,001 kills. She becomes the 17th Hornet to reach the milestone since the program joined the Div. I ranks in 1991.

With the victory, the Hornets improved to 15-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky. The 15-2 record is the best for the program since the 1995 squad was 16-1, and the team has won its first two conference games for the first time since 2007. In addition, Sacramento State extended its dominance of Northern Arizona inside the Nest, as the Hornets are now 21-1 all-time when playing NAU at home.

The Lumberjacks, who opened the conference season Thursday night with a win at Portland State, had their four-match winning streak snapped and fell to 11-4 and 1-1 in the league. NAU has been one of the better teams in the Big Sky all season with quality wins over Loyola Marymount, Virginia Tech and Boise State.

The Hornets won each of the first two sets handily, contributing to match advantages over the Lumberjacks in kills (65-55), hitting percentage (.271-.180), assists (63-54), digs (78-74) and team blocks (14.0-11.0). Northern Arizona entered the match with a Big Sky-best .274 team hitting percentage, but the Hornets forced NAU into 24 errors and the .180 percentage.

"I was very happy the way we started this match," Sacramento State head coach Ruben Volta said. "We stayed on our feet, dug a lot of balls, and it helped with our transition attack. NAU is a very smart team and they don't make a lot of hitting errors, so you have to be able to pursue balls and we got away from that in the third set and first part of the fourth.

"But the second half of the fourth set, we dug a few extra balls, prolonged some rallies, and that made the difference. All season, we have shown a competitive side that I really enjoy. I have a lot of confidence in this team, and we continue to play well at crucial times in matches."

Four Hornets had double figures in kills, comprised of outside hitters Lauren Kissell (18 kills, .486 hitting percentage), Lovett (16 kills) and Stanley (14 kills, 16 digs, three blocks), and middle blocker Madeline Cannon (12 kills, four blocks, .333 hitting percentage). Kissell, who was named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Monday, has been on an absolute tear and raised her season hitting percentage to a ridiculously high mark (.316) for an outside hitter.

Dietrich posted a season-high 10 blocks (including three solos), none larger than the combo block with Stanley to end the match. Libero Lexie Skalbeck was all over the floor, digging a match-high 24 balls or an average of 6.0 per set. Julia Wright had 12 digs and setter Kennedy Kurtz posted 11 digs to round out the four Hornets with double figures. Kurtz also had 55 assists and four blocks, and has at least 50 assists in four of the last five matches. Brigitte Murdock chipped in a season-high eight digs.

For the second straight match, sophomore Shannon Boyle did not play because of a back injury.

For Northern Arizona, Janae Vander Ploeg (19 kills, .246) and Lauren Jacobsen (18 kills, .161) combined for 37 of the team's 55 kills. The Lumberjacks had six aces, including three from Vander Ploeg. Libero Stacia Williams had a team-high 21 digs.

Sacramento State will now embark upon a four-match road trip that begins on Thursday at Idaho State, and also includes matches at Weber State (Oct. 3), Eastern Washington (Oct. 8) and Idaho (Oct. 10). The Hornets do not return home again until an Oct. 15 matchup with Northern Colorado.