SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State outside hitters
Caitlin Volkmann (22) and
Bridgette Smith (21) combined for 43 kills to lead the Hornets to a 3-1 victory over Portland State (23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-19) in the Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinals Wednesday evening at the Nest.
The victory advanced the Hornets (19-11) to the semifinal round where they will take on Idaho State (21-8) tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Nest. Sacramento State is the No. 3 seed at the tournament while the Bengals are the 2 seed. Idaho State defeated Northern Arizona in four sets earlier today.
In other quarterfinal matches today, Weber State beat Eastern Washington, 3-1, and Northern Colorado knocked off Montana State in five sets. The higher seed won all four matches as No. 1 Northern Colorado will take on No. 4 Weber State tomorrow at 4 p.m. The winners of the semifinal matches will play for the Big Sky Tourney title (and automatic NCAA Tournament berth) on Friday at 7 p.m.
In their 24th appearance at the Big Sky Tournament, the Hornets are making their 19th trip to the semifinal round.
Portland State was limited to an .097 hitting percentage, as the Vikings were held under .100 in each of the second, third and fourth sets. Sacramento State held a massive lead in kills (61-34), assists (54-33) and digs (67-52) while controlling the match after dropping the first set.
Volkmann matched her career high with 22 kills as the senior also had 12 digs and hit .395 with just five errors in 43 swings. Smith posted her third straight contest with 20+ kills as the senior finished with 21 to go with seven digs, four aces and three blocks. The duo of Smit/Volkmann combined for 43 of the Hornets' 61 kills.
Libero
Reese Ampi led all players with 19 digs, setter
Kate Doorn had 29 assists, four aces, eight digs and three blocks, and
Ashlynn Archer tallied seven kills, four blocks and a team-best .417 hitting percentage. Freshman
Skyler Gartin had five kills and a match-high seven blocks,
Greta Davis four blocks, and
Ellie Tisko seven digs. Setter
Hailey Plugge, teaming with Doorn to run a 6-2 offense, finished with 18 assists and seven digs.
Idaho State is the only team in the 10-member Big Sky the Hornets did not defeat this season. The Bengals won both meetings in four sets.
Sacramento State is hosting this year's event by virtue of winning last year's Big Sky regular season title. Tonight allowed the Hornets to improve to 10-2 at home this season.
