BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Sacramento State's Lauren Kissell (15), Sloan Lovett (15) and Shannon Boyle (12) combined for 42 kills to lead the Hornets to a 3-1 win (17-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-22) over UNC Wilmington in the second round of the Holly Springs Volleyball Invitational Saturday morning at Gore Arena.

With the victory, the Hornets (5-1 overall) have now won four straight matches, improved to 2-0 at the tournament, and will play their final match of the two-day event later this evening against host Campbell at 4 p.m. PDT. Sacramento State's four-match winning ties for the longest since the 2011 season, and the 5-1 record after six matches ties for the best since the 1995 squad was 6-0.

Perhaps even more satisfying is this morning's win came against a very good UNC Wilmington team had been 4-0 this year, had dropped one set all season, and won 21 matches last year. The Hornets and Seahawks were playing each other for the first time ever.

In a contest that lasted nearly two hours and featured 34 ties and 10 lead changes, it was Sacramento State that consistently won the big points. With the score tied at 24-24 in the first set, kills from Brie Gathright and Lovett gave the Hornets a 26-24 win. Sacramento State closed the third set on a 9-5 run after the frame had been tied at 16-16. And, finally, in the fourth set, it was the Hornets closing the frame on a 7-4 run after the scored had been tied at 18-18, punctuated by a Kissell kill on match point.

As a team, Sacramento State hit .209 while tallying 58 kills, 84 digs and 7.0 team blocks. The Hornets averaged a robust 21.0 digs per set during the match, and saw five players finish with at least nine digs. That included Boyle (18), Lexie Skalbeck (18), Morgan Stanley (16), Julia Wright (12) and setter Kennedy Kurtz (9). The 18 digs for Boyle were a career high, and Wright's 12 digs were two shy of a career best.

Boyle finished with 12 kills, 18 digs, the first double-double of her career and a .333 hitting percentage. Kissell, who hit .250 in the match, has now led or tied for the team lead in kills in all but two contests this year. Lovett's 15 kills came with six digs, an ace and a solo block.

Middle blocker Courtney Dietrich had five kills, a solo stuff and a team-best .364 hitting percentage. Dietrich is now hitting a ridiculous .528 (21-2-36) over her last four matches to improve her team-high hitting percentage to .400. True freshman middle Brie Gathright, who entered the match in the second set, finished with three kills and a team-high four blocks. Two of those blocks were solo stuffs. Kurtz had 49 assists and is now averaging 10.36 assists per set.

After UNC Wilmington hit .263 in its victorious first set, the Seahawks were limited to percentages of .191 or less during each of the final three sets. Nicole Lott led the team with 23 kills, and no other UNCW player had more than eight kills.

NOTES -- Sacramento State has now hit above .200 in all but one match this season (.195 at San Jose State)…the 2013 squad also won four straight matches, and the 2011 team won six straight…other Hornet squads with 5-1 starts over the last 20 years include the 2013, 2004 and 2002 teams…Sacramento State has yet to play a five-set match this season.