SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State played well in every phase, sweeping UNLV (25-18, 25-17, 25-21) in the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) on Thursday evening at the Nest.

The Hornets advance to the Round of 16 at the NIVC, and will play Montana State tomorrow night at 7 p.m. inside the Nest. Tonight's win was the first for the Hornets at an NCAA postseason event since winning an NCAA Tournament first round matchup in 2007 against Minnesota. In addition, it was the team's first NIVC victory since 1995.

Sacramento State, which improved to 22-11 overall, will now face a Montana State team that beat Pacific in four sets this afternoon in the Nest. The Big Sky Conference went 3-0 in NIVC matches this evening, as Northern Colorado swept Valparaiso in Greeley.

UNLV, which finished third in the Mountain West Conference, sees its season come to an end with a 19-13 record.

Sacramento State will now play Montana State for the third time this season, as the teams split the first two matchups with both winning on their home floor. The Hornets won this year's Big Sky regular season championship, and Montana State finished in a tie for second place. Both teams fell in very close fashion to Weber State in the Big Sky Tournament.

The Hornets hit .337 tonight (fifth best mark of the season), finishing with 44 kills and just nine errors in 104 attacks. Sacramento State also had eight team blocks, and did not trail until the third set. In fact, after UNLV took its largest lead of the evening at 2-0 in the third set, Sacramento State responded with a 5-1 run and didn't trail the remainder of the third frame.

Sacramento State's middle blockers were nearly unstoppable as Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin had 10 kills, five blocks and an .833 hitting percentage (10-0-12), and Kalani Hayes finished with 11 kills, three blocks and a .450 hitting percentage (11-2-20). Kamba-Griffin's hitting percentage was the sixth best mark in program single-match history. In fact, Kamba-Griffin now owns two of the program's top six single-match marks as she 1.000 (7-0-7) earlier this year at Northern Arizona.

Outside hitter Ellie Tisko had a big match with 11 kills, eight digs and a .409 hitting percentage, and fellow outside hitter Bridgette Smith nine kills, nine digs, two blocks and three aces. Sacramento State had nine aces, including three from setter Hailey Plugge. At 24-21 of the third set, setter Kate Doorn ripped an ace to put things away.

Caty Cordano led all players with 14 digs, Doorn had 18 assists and eight digs, and Plugge 15 assists and four digs. Caitlin Volkmann had two kills and two blocks, and Ashlynn Archer filled in for an injured Karlee Soderberg by posting a kill and a block.

Sacramento State improved to 13-4 at home this season, and played tonight's match in front of an energetic crowd of 684 patrons.