GREELEY, Colo. -- Weber State overcame a 2-1 sets deficit, and 18-12 in the fourth set, to defeat Sacramento State, 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-7), in the Big Sky Conference Tournament semifinals Thursday afternoon at Bank of Colorado Arena.
Sacramento State (21-11), which swept Idaho State yesterday in the quarterfinals, sees its Big Sky Tournament run come to an end. The Hornets were the No. 1 seed at the tournament after winning the Big Sky's regular season title. Weber State (20-9), the No. 4 seed, will advance to tomorrow's championship match to face No. 2 Montana State at 6 p.m. PT.
The Wildcats and Hornets split their regular season meetings with each team winning on the road, prior to this afternoon's matchup.
Things looked good after Sacramento State went up, 18-12, in the fourth set and appeared to be on its way to a championship game appearance. However, the Wildcats closed the set on a 13-5 run, and would carry that momentum to a victorious fifth set.
Today marked the first time all season Sacramento State lost a match when holding an opponent below a .200 hitting percentage (19-1). The Hornets limited Weber State to a .146 mark, which included holding the Wildcats to below .170 in each of the first four sets. However, the Wildcats hit .385 in the fifth, riding the momentum it gained from late in the fourth frame.
Sacramento State hit .214 and was better statistically in every category except one big one. Serving. Weber State had a whopping 17 aces, easily the most by a Sacramento State opponent all season. That included four aces in the fifth set alone.
Bridgette Smith led all players with 18 kills to go with four blocks. Middle blocker
Kalani Hayes had 10 kills, a .600 hitting percentage and six blocks, and
Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin had a match-high eight blocks to go with five kills and six digs.
Ellie Tisko had 11 kills, and
Caitlin Volkmann finished with seven kills. Volkmann is just 18 kills shy of 1,000 for her career.
Caty Cordano's 19 digs were nine more than any other player on the floor. Setters
Kate Doorn (22 ast, 7 digs) and
Hailey Plugge (19 ast, 9 digs) combined for 41 assists and 16 digs.
Abbey Kadillak added five digs.
Ashlynn Archer played on the right side for the injured
Karlee Soderberg, and finished with three kills and three blocks.
Sacramento State's regular season championship was its first since 2017, and the 10th since the program joined the Big Sky in 1996. In addition, the Hornets' 13-3 conference record tied for the program's second best mark in the last 16 years. Sacramento State never suffered a losing streak longer than two matches all season long.
