SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Sacramento State played three matches on the first day of the Big West Conference Challenge on Saturday at the Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex.

The Hornets will play six matches over two days at Cal Poly's beach facility, and they dropped matches today against Cal Poly (5-0), CSU Bakersfield (4-1) and UC Davis (5-0). Sacramento State will play three more times tomorrow, including a pair of matchups against nationally ranked opposition. The Big West Challenge is a two-day tournament that includes all seven teams in the conference playing each other at one location.

The Hornets fell to 3-5 and had their three-match winning streak snapped.

Sacramento State's lone win of the day came from the No. 1 duo of Bridgette Smith/Kalani Hayes, who won their matchup against CSU Bakersfield in three sets (16-21, 21-17, 15-13). The tandem nearly beat UC Davis as well (fell, 15-13, in the third set) and lost for the first time all season. They are now 6-2 this year at the top spot in the team's lineup.

In the 5-0 loss to UC Davis, the match was much closer than the final score indicated. Three of the five matches went three sets, and all five matchups were close.

Sacramento State will play three times tomorrow - 8 a.m. vs. 12th-ranked Long Beach State, 11 a.m. vs. 8th-ranked Hawaii, and 2 p.m. vs CSUN.