FOLSOM, Calif. — Sacramento State defeated both San Francisco (5-0) and San Jose State (3-2) on the first day of a two-day, four-team tournament on Saturday at the Livermore Community Park beach volleyball courts.
The Hornets beat San Francisco in the morning session and knocked off San Jose State in the afternoon, and will attempt to complete a perfect tournament tomorrow morning against Boise State at 10 a.m. For results of all matches during the tournament, please click here.
Sacramento State is now 3-0 on the young season, a massive improvement from a year ago when the Hornets finished a 1-21 record. In fact, a combined five of those losses last season came against the two teams the Hornets defeated today. Sacramento State opened the 2017 season on Wednesday with a 3-2 win at Santa Clara.
Today, the Hornets' doubles teams of Madeline Cannon/Morgan Stanley at No. 1, Lexie Skalbeck/Shannon Boyle at No. 2, and Brie Gathright/Skyler Takeda at No. 4 were each victorious in both matches.
In fact, with Sacramento State trailing, 2-1, in its match against San Jose State, Cannon and Stanley won, 21-16, 22-20 to tie the score at 2-2, and Boyle/Skalbeck came through with the match-clinching 21-13, 23-21 victory over Julie Sam and Nandyala Game.
In the 5-0 sweep of San Francisco, Cannon/Stanley (21-9, 21-13), Skalbeck/Boyle (22-20, 21-19), Sarah Davis/Kennedy Kurtz at No. 3 (21-19, 19-21, 15-6), Gathright/Takeda (21-14, 15-21, 15-7) and Paige Swinney/Lana Brown at No. 5 (21-11, 21-14) were each victorious.
It was Gathright and Takeda that got the Hornets off to a 1-0 beginning against San Jose State with their win at No. 4 by a tight 22-20, 18-21, 15-13 score.
The doubles teams of Cannon/Stanley, Boyle/Skalbeck and Gathright/Takeda are each 3-0 this season.
After the Hornets' match against Boise State tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in Folsom, Sacramento State will not play again until next Saturday (March 18) at Cal.
