Big West Championship Home Page
HONOLULU -- Sacramento State's beach volleyball season came to a close on Friday afternoon after dropping a pair of matches at the Big West Conference Championship at Queens Beach. The Hornets lost their first match of the day to sixth-ranked Long Beach State, 5-0, before falling later to CSU Bakersfield, 3-2.
Today, the conference's six teams all took part in the first of two days of the double-elimination tournament to determine the Big West champion. Top seed and tournament host Hawai'i received a first round bye, as well as No. 2 seed Cal Poly. The Big West boasts three teams currently ranked among the top six in the nation in the latest AVCA Beach Volleyball poll, including third-ranked Hawai'i, fourth-ranked Cal Poly and sixth-ranked Long Beach State.
Long Beach State (2-0), Hawai'i (1-0), Cal Poly (1-0) and CSU Bakersfield (1-1) are still alive in the tournament, and the championship match will take place tomorrow at 4 p.m. PDT.
With the two losses, Sacramento State, which was the No. 6 seed, was eliminated from the tournament and its season comes to an end with a 4-17 record. Six of those losses came against teams ranked among the top 20 in the nation, including four against teams ranked in the top six.
The Hornets, who concluded just their sixth season of beach volleyball, posted wins this year against Boise State, CSU Bakersfield, Cal State LA and Foothill College.
In today's match against nationally ranked Long Beach State (3 seed), the Hornets dropped all five matches in straight sets. Sacramento State did not score more than 14 points in any of the 10 sets.
Things were much closer against CSU Bakersfield as three of the five doubles matches went to three sets. Sacramento State got wins from Paige Swinney/Brigitte Murdock at No. 5 (21-17, 21-10) and Skyler Takeda/Macey Hayden at No. 4 (15-21, 21-17, 15-13). However, the Roadrunners won matches at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, with the 1s and 2s decided in three sets.
Four Hornets will play Sunday in the Big West Pairs Championship. A total of 16 pairs were selected from the conference to compete in the brand new event, and No. 13 seed Mikaela Nocetti/Lana Brown will play at 2 p.m. PDT, and No. 16 seed Kennedy Kurtz/Sarah Davis will play at 1 p.m. PDT.
After Sunday's pairs matches, the Hornets will set their sights on the 2018 indoor season which begins on Aug. 24-25 when the team hosts the Hornet Invitational. The four-team tournament will see Arizona, CSUN and Utah State visit the Nest. Sacramento State opens on Aug. 24 against both Utah State and CSUN, and concludes the tournament on Aug. 25 vs. Arizona.
#6 Long Beach State 5, Sacramento State 0
1. Nele Barber/Sasha Karelov (LBSU) def. Mikaela Nocetti/Lana Brown (SAC) 21-9, 21-12
2. Megan Kruidhof/Rachel Nieto (LBSU) def. Kennedy Kurtz/Sarah Davis (SAC) 21-14, 21-7
3. Kristyna Adamcikova/Hailey Harward (LBSU) def. Hannah Meadows/Ashtin Olin (SAC) 21-11, 21-11
4. Zoi Konatantopoulou/Nicci Reinking (LBSU) def. Skyler Takeda/Macey Hayden (SAC) 21-14, 21-14
5. Hannah Matt/Marisa Ramsey (LBSU) def. Paige Swinney/Brigitte Murdock (SAC) 21-9, 21-13
CSU Bakersfield 3, Sacramento State 2
1. Emily Hansen/Sydney Haynes (CSUB) def. Mikaela Nocetti/Lana Brown (SAC) 23-25, 21-13, 15-8
2. Desiree Sukhov/Sarah Garrow (CSUB) def. Kennedy Kurtz/Sarah Davis (SAC) 15-21, 21-14, 15-11
3. Aleksandra Djordjevi/Briannah Mariner (CSUB) def. Hannah Meadows/Ashtin Olin (SAC) 22-20, 21-15
4. Skyler Takeda/Macey Hayden (SAC) def. Mattison Degarmo/Emily Lopes (CSUB) 15-21, 21-17, 15-13
5. Paige Swinney/Brigitte Murdock (SAC) def. Ally Barber/Sidney Wicks (CSUB) 21-17, 21-10
