BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Sacramento State played over four hours of volleyball today, splitting a pair of five-set matches on the first day of the Central California Classic on Friday at the Icardo Center.
The two-day, four-team tournament began today with four matches, and all four went to five sets between the evenly matched participants. The tournament field consists of Sacramento State, Fresno State, Pacific and CSU Bakersfield. After opening the day with a five-set loss to Fresno State (25-15, 22-25, 15-25, 25-23, 16-14), the Hornets bounced back to knock off the Roadrunners by a 21-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-12, 15-6 score.
Sacramento State concludes the tournament tomorrow at 11 a.m. vs. Pacific.
Each of the last three matches for the Hornets, and four of the last five, have gone to five sets.
Kalani Hayes finished the day with averages of 2.50 kills and 0.80 blocks to go with a .513 hitting percentage,
Caty Cordano had eight aces and averaged 3.50 digs per set, and
Caitlin Volkmann posted seven aces and an average of 2.00 kills per set.
Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin combined for 11 blocks over the two matches (1.10 per set).
In the win over Bakersfield, Sacramento State set a new program record with 16 aces, surpassing the previous mark of 15, set in 2015 and 2007. In that match, both Cordano and Volkmann had a career-high five aces, while
Bridgette Smith finished with three.
vs. CSU Bakersfield
• After dropping two of the first three sets, Sacramento State outscored the Roadrunners, 40-18, over the final two frames. That included 7.0 team blocks and five aces over those two frames while CSU Bakersfield had zero blocks during that stretch.
• The Hornets absolutely dominated in the fifth set to the tune of a .625 hitting percentage (5-0-8) with three aces and four team blocks. CSU Bakersfield hit for a negative percentage (-.273) and didn't pose much of a threat as the Hornets jumped out to a 7-3 lead and never looked back.
• Sacramento State finished with 14.0 team blocks, its second highest output of the season. That included eight from Kamba-Griffin, five from Hayes, four from
Greta Davis, and three apiece from Volkmann and setter
Ashtin Olin. The Hornets limited Bakersfield to a .185 hitting percentage, which included .000 in the fourth set and -.273 in the fifth.
• Hayes finished with a career-high tying 13 kills to go along with a .550 hitting percentage. Three of her five blocks came in the fifth set.
Bridgette Smith, who had been limited to back row play the last four matches (injury), was back as a six rotation outside hitter today, and finished the Bakersfield win with a team-high 14 kills.
• Cordano led all players with 18 digs, Olin had three kills, 35 assists, nine digs and three blocks, and Davis posted eight kills and four blocks. Kamba-Griffin tallied four kills and a .364 hitting percentage to go with the eight blocks.
vs. Fresno State
• Sacramento State seemingly had this match won in four sets after going up, 2-1, and holding a 23-18 lead in the fourth. However, Fresno State went on a 7-0 run to close the frame and force a fifth set.
• In the fifth set, the Hornets held a late lead at 11-10, but immediately saw the Bulldogs score four unanswered to take a 14-11 lead. Sacramento State did save three straight match points to tie at 14-14, but back-to-back Fresno State kills ended the contest.
• The two teams played close the entire way, as the stats were nearly identical in most categories. Fresno State held small advantages in kills (54-51), hitting percentage (.194-.190) and digs (58-54) while the Hornets had one more ace (10-9), and the teams both had 9.0 team blocks.
• At one point, between the third and fourth sets, Sacramento State outscored Fresno State by a 40-22 margin. That stretch ended with Fresno State's back-breaking 7-0 spurt to close the fourth.
• Four Hornets finished with double figures in kills, comprised of Hayes (12 kills, 3 blocks, .474 hit%), Volkmann (11 kills, 2 aces, 5 digs), Smith (10 kills, 6 digs, 4 blocks) and Davis (10 kills, 9 digs).
• Cordano had 17 digs and three aces, Olin notched 41 assists, two aces and eight digs, and Kamba-Griffin five kills and three blocks.
