SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State saw its championship winning season come to an end with a 3-1 loss to Montana State (25-27, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19) in the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Friday evening at the Nest.

The Hornets, who won this year's Big Sky Conference regular season title, advanced to the second round of the NIVC after sweeping UNLV last night. However, Montana State, which finished in a tie for second in the Big Sky standings, will advance to next week's quarterfinal round. The Hornets and Bobcats split their two regular season contests prior to tonight's postseason matchup.

Sacramento State completes an impressive season which saw the team finish 22-12 overall, 13-3 in conference play, and 13-5 at home. The 22 wins were the most in six years, the conference title was the first since 2017, the team had five players named all-conference, and Ruben Volta was named Big Sky Coach of the Year. That included Bridgette Smith being named the conference MVP. She was joined on the first team by Kalani Hayes and Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin.

Sacramento State was making its fifth NIVC appearance (2023, 2017, 1995, 1993, 1992), and won a match at the tournament for the first time since 1995.

Tonight, Sacramento State was limited to a .140 hitting percentage, its fifth lowest mark of the season. Montana State opened each set with sizable runs, including 4-0 in both the first and second sets, 8-0 in the third, and 8-4 in the fourth. Montana State finished with 16.0 team blocks, the most against Sacramento State this season. The Bobcats, who had less kills than Sacramento State (51-48), hit .250 with eight aces.

Three Hornets finished with double figures in kills, led by Hayes' 10 kills, four blocks and team-high .471 hitting percentage. Smith had a match-high tying 15 kills to go with nine digs, and Ellie Tisko finished with 10 kills and a pair of blocks. Kamba-Griffin had a team-best five blocks, Caty Cordano finished with 15 digs, and setter Kate Doorn led all players with 16 digs to go with 21 assists.

Hailey Plugge, who ran a 6-2 offense with Doorn all season, finished with 19 assists and six digs. Ashlynn Archer added four kills and two blocks, and Caitlin Volkmann three kills and four blocks. Volkmann now has 987 career kills.

This year's Big Sky championship was the program's nine regular season title since joining the Big Sky in 1996.