OGDEN, Utah -- Sacramento State posted a season-best 17.0 team blocks, and overcame a 2-1 sets deficit to pick up a huge 3-2 road win (25-23, 20-25, 21-25, 25-17, 15-9) at Weber State on Saturday afternoon at Swenson Gym.
Of those 17 blocks, nine came in the final two sets. That includes seven in the fourth set, and two more in the fifth. Middle blocker
Kalani Hayes led the block parade with a career-best 12 as she posted her second career double-double with 13 kills and a .385 hitting percentage.
Six different Hornets had multiple blocks, and Sacramento State's defense posted 73 digs as Weber State hit just .139. That hitting percentage was the second lowest mark of the season for the Wildcats, and they dropped to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in league play. Weber State finished in second place in last year's Big Sky standings with an 11-5 conference mark. Sacramento State now sits at 9-7, and 2-0 in the Big Sky, and was able to snap its four-match losing streak in Ogden.
With the score tied at 9-9 in the fifth set, Sacramento State ripped off a 6-0 run highlighted by two kills from Hayes, and a combo block from Hayes/
Caitlin Volkmann.
Abbey Kadillak served out the final five points for the Hornets. Sacramento State hit .526 in the decisive fifth set, and 11 of the team's 15 points came via kills. That includes three each from Volkmann,
Bridgette Smith and
Ellie Tisko.
Hayes' 12 blocks surpassed her previous career high of 10, which she set on four different occasions. Joining her with multiple blocks were Volkmann (6),
Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin (5),
Greta Davis (4), Smith (3) and Tisko (2).
The Hornets are now 9-0 when holding an opponent below a .200 hitting percentage.
Volkmann finished with a season-high 17 kills, including a huge swing for a kill at 24-23 of the first set. Smith had her fifth double-double of the season with 15 kills and season-best 16 digs, and Tisko had 12 kills and a .360 hitting percentage to round out the four Hornets with double-digit kills.
Caty Cordano led all players with a season-best 23 digs, and
Kate Doorn posted her sixth double-double with 31 assists and 12 digs.
Hailey Plugge had 21 assists, and Kamba-Griffin had five kills and a .333 hitting percentage to go along with her five blocks. Davis had three kills and seven digs.
Sacramento State plays just once next week, and that will come on Friday at home vs. Portland State at 7 p.m. The following week, the Hornets will play a pair of road matches at Idaho and Eastern Washington.
