SACRAMENTO -- Portland State's Megan Sester had a match-high 19 kills to lead the Vikings to a four-set win over Sacramento State (25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21), on Saturday afternoon at the Nest.

The loss was the first of the season at home for the Hornets as the team dropped to 8-6 overall, 8-6 in the Big Sky Conference and 7-1 at home. The team wrapped up its season-long four-match homestand with a 3-1 record, and today marked the home finale. The Hornets and Vikings split the two-game series as Sacramento State was victorious yesterday in four sets.

The win improved Portland State to 4-12 overall, and 3-11 in the Big Sky. The Vikings have won three of their last four. The record is not nearly indicative of PSU's talent, as the six of the team's losses have come in five sets and they have been swept just once all season.

Prior to today's match, fifth-year senior and two-time team captain Paige Swinney was honored for her contributions to the program. There are four seniors on this year's roster, and the other three - Cianna Andrews, Macey Hayden, Michelle Taynton - have elected to come back and play next year.

Sacramento State has just two matches remaining in the regular season, and those matchups will come next Sunday (March 21) and Monday (March 22) at Montana. The Big Sky Tournament will take place March 31-April 2 in Greeley, Colo. The Hornets are currently fifth in the conference standings, and the top eight teams qualify for the three-day postseason event.

In today's match, both team's defenses were on display as Sacramento State hit .096 (third lowest mark of the season) and Portland State was limited to a .130 percentage. Statistically, the match was extremely close as the Hornets had one more kill (46-45), two more blocks (15.0-13.0) and three less digs (80-77) than the Vikings. Both teams had nine aces.

Sester's 19 kills were seven more than any other player from either team. That includes seven kills in the fourth frame. She hit .277 and took 47 of PSU's 154 swings.

Four Hornets had at least four blocks, including Sarah Falk (8), Kalani Hayes (6), Macey Hayden (4) and Caitlin Volkmann (4). Both Hayes (1.28) and Falk (1.13) are averaging better than a block per set.

Libero Caty Cordano had another strong showing, finishing with 23 digs, her  third straight and fifth time in the last six matches with 20-plus digs. Setter Ashtin Olin (18 digs, 22 assists) and outside hitter Bridgette Smith (12) also posted double digits in digs.

Offensively, Smith had 12 kills, Volkmann 12 kills and Hayes had seven kills. The only Hornet to hit better than .250 in the match was Cianna Andrews who finished with four kills, a solo block and a .286 hitting percentage. Andrews was playing in her second match of the season after returning from injury yesterday.

The Hornets' nine aces came from five different players, including Olin (3), McKenna Smith (2), Michelle Taynton (2), Hayden (1) and Bridgette Smith (1).