LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A short-handed Sacramento State beach volleyball squad dropped three matches on the first day of the Big West Conference Challenge Friday afternoon at Rosie's Dog Beach.

The two-day tournament, which features all seven beach teams in the Big West playing each other over two days, will conclude tomorrow. Sacramento State played three times today, and will play three more matches tomorrow.

The Hornets had to forfeit their match at No. 5 doubles in all three matches today as Sacramento State has two players currently out with ailments - Ellie Tisko and McKenna Smith. Sacramento State fell to CSU Bakersfield (4-1), 12th-ranked Cal Poly (5-0) and CSUN (5-0).

It won't get any easier tomorrow as the Hornets will take on two nationally ranked opponents. The schedule includes 15th-ranked Long Beach State at 10:45 a.m., ninth-ranked Hawai'i at noon, and UC Davis at 3:45 p.m.

Sacramento State got its lone doubles win today from the No. 2 tandem of Bridgette Smith/Caitlin Volkmann, who beat their opponent from CSU Bakersfield by a 21-23, 21-15, 15-10 score. That same pair of Smith/Volkmann nearly won at No. 2 against CSUN, but fell, 19-17, in the third set.

All three box scores can be found above the story.

The Hornets dropped to 3-7 with the losses. Sacramento State opened the season with a 2-1 record, but has been dealing with injuries ever since.