SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State had 15 aces, and limited Montana to a .131 hitting percentage on the way to a 3-1 victory over the Grizzlies (25-14, 25-18, 18-25, 25-19) on Thursday evening at the Nest.
The win allowed Sacramento State (8-9, 4-1) to move into a two-way tie for first place in the Big Sky Conference standings with Portland State. Montana (10-6, 3-1) had its five-match winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in league play.
Dating back to last season, the Hornets have now won nine straight home matches against Big Sky foes. Each of the first eight of those wins were three-set sweeps until that streak came to an end this evening. The Hornets had won 26 consecutive sets at home over Big Sky opposition until the Grizzlies' win in the third frame.
In addition, Sacramento State continued its dominance of Montana inside the Nest, as the Hornets are now 20-4 when playing the Griz at home (including six straight wins).
Seven different Hornets had aces, including five from
Bridgette Smith, three from
Mia Guevara, and two each from
Caty Cordano and
Ashtin Olin. The 15 aces are tied for the second most in program history, trailing only the 16 the team had at CSU Bakersfield earlier this year.
The Hornets were able to close out tonight's win in impressive fashion, finishing the fourth set on a 10-2 run. Sacramento State had 12.0 team blocks go to with the 15 aces, the 10th time this season with double figures in blocks.
Middle blocker
Kalani Hayes was impressive all evening, finishing with 10 kills, a .562 hitting percentage and four blocks. She had just one error in 16 attacks, and many of her kills worked the crowd of 512 into a frenzy. Smith had her third double-double of the year with 10 kills, 13 digs and two blocks, and Olin her eighth double-double with 35 assists, 14 digs and three blocks.
Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin, already 17th in the nation in blocks, finished with a match-best seven stuffs to go with five kills.
Caitlin Volkmann posted eight kills and eight digs,
Greta Davis six kills, four digs and two blocks, and Cordano 12 digs.
Ellie Tisko had three kills during the Hornets' match-clinching 10-2 run.
The Hornets return to action on Saturday when they host Montana State at 1 p.m.
