GREELEY, Colo. -- Sacramento State had 15.0 team blocks and limited Idaho State to an .086 hitting percentage on the way to a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-20, 26-24) of the Bengals in a Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal matchup Wednesday afternoon.
With the victory, the Hornets, seeded 1st at the three-day single elimination event, will play in the semifinals tomorrow vs. #4 seed Weber State at 3 p.m. PT. The winner of that match will play in Friday's championship at 6 p.m. PT. The Big Sky Tournament champion receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Sacramento State improved to 21-10 overall, and won both its meetings against Idaho State this year in three-set sweeps. The Bengals, who were the No. 8 seed, had their season come to a close.
The Hornets are making their 23rd appearances at the Big Sky Tournament since joining the league in 1996, and have now reached at least the semifinal round on 18 occasions.
The Hornets dominated defensively, limiting ISU's offense to hitting percentages of .029, .056 and .171 in sets 1-3, respectively. Sacramento State, the nation's ninth best blocking team, saw four of its players finish with at least three blocks today. That included
Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin's brilliant performance, as the senior middle blocker led all players with 10 blocks. Four of those blocks were solos, including a solo stuff at 24-24 of the third set.
Joining the block party were
Kalani Hayes (4 blk, 11 kills, .714 hit%),
Caitlin Volkmann (4 blk, 11 kills) and
Karlee Soderberg (3 blk, 5 kills, .400 hit%). Hayes had 11 kills with just one error in 14 swings, and the .714 hitting percentage was a season best.
Bridgette Smith, recently named Big Sky MVP, finished with her 12th double-double of the season (10 kills, 13 digs).
Libero
Caty Cordano led all players with 15 digs,
Kate Doorn registered a match-high 28 assists, and
Hailey Plugge added 15 assists and seven digs.
Ellie Tisko had four kills and two blocks.
All matches at the tournament are taking place at Bank of Colorado Arena, the home court of Northern Colorado. The Bears are hosting this year's event by virtue of winning last year's Big Sky regular season championship. Sacramento State will host next year's event.
