BOZEMAN, Mont. -- In a highly entertaining back and forth match that featured 42 tie scores, Montana State outlasted Sacramento State, 3-2 (28-26, 25-27, 25-21, 18-25, 17-15), on Thursday evening. The match lasted two hours and 40 minutes, and the fifth set alone featured 11 ties and four lead changes.

Sacramento State held a 10-7 lead in the fifth set, and had a match point at 14-13, but the Bobcats would ultimately prevail. After falling behind, 10-7, the Bobcats finished the match on a 10-5 run. The Hornets held statistical advantages in kills (73-61), assists (72-56), digs (66-50), hitting percentage (.246-.217) and team blocks (14.0-11.5). The Bobcats did have 12 aces, including a pair in the fifth set.

The Hornets dropped to 19-10 overall and 12-3 in the Big Sky Conference, while the Bobcats improve to 18-7 and 11-4 in league. With just one match left in the regular season, Sacramento State could still clinch the Big Sky regular season title outright with a win on Saturday at Montana. With one match to play, the top four teams in the Big Sky standings look like this:

Hornets (12-3)
Montana State (11-4)
Northern Colorado (11-4)
Weber State (11-4)

Northern Colorado hosts Weber State on Saturday, while Montana State hosts Portland State. To earn the No. 1 seed at this year's Big Sky Tournament, and the right to host next year's postseason event, the Hornets will need to beat Montana OR see Weber State lose to Northern Colorado. That match begins at 5 p.m. PT while the Hornets play Montana at 6 p.m. PT.

Sacramento State had an opportunity to jump out to a 1-0 lead, but squandered three set points in the 28-26 first set loss. The Hornets, however, saved three set points in the second set and closed on a 5-1 run to win, 27-25. The third and fourth sets weren't that close prior to the dramatic fifth set.

The Hornets had three players finish with at least 17 kills, including Bridgette Smith's 19 kills to go with three aces, 11 digs and four blocks. The double-double was her third straight, and 35th of her career. Caitlin Volkmann tied her season high with 17 kills as she also hit .316 with three blocks. Ellie Tisko had 17 kills, and was brilliant in the fifth set with four kills in five swings. That included back-to-back kills to put the Hornets up, 10-7.

Middle blocker Kalani Hayes had eight kills, a .500 hitting percentage, and five blocks while fellow middle Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin posted eight kills and eight blocks. Both Hayes and Kamba-Griffin had two blocks in the fifth set.

Caty Cordano had 19 digs, and reached a milestone in the process. She became the 11th player in school history to register 1,500 career digs, and first since Lexie Skalbeck in 2016. Setter Kate Doorn had a season-best 39 assists to go with seven digs. It was Doorn's clever kill that concluded the 27-25 second set. Hailey Plugge had 22 assists and eight digs.

The Bobcats were led by outside hitter Kira Thomsen's match-high 23 kills. That included five kills and a .400 hitting percentage in the fifth set.

Sacramento State will travel to Missoula tomorrow in preparation for Saturday's huge match at Montana. First serve is 6 p.m. PT. The Hornets defeated Montana in four sets earlier this season at the Nest.