Sacramento State

SACRAMENTO -- UC Santa Barbara hit .337 - including .415 in the final two sets - to defeat Sacramento State, 3-1 (28-26, 10-25, 25-10, 25-20), on Saturday evening at the Nest.

The loss dropped Sacramento State to 7-8 overall and 2-2 in the Big West. Each of the Hornets' first four conference matches have come at home, including a pair of sweeps last week over California Baptist and UC Riverside. Sacramento State lost for just the second time at home this season (5-2).

UC Santa Barbara, selected third in the Big West preseason coaches poll, improved to 8-7 overall and 4-0 in league. Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara are the lone teams in the Big West with undefeated conference records. Sacramento State lost to both those teams this week.

Sacramento State was playing the Gauchos for the first time since 2018, and the Hornets dropped to 1-4 all-time against UCSB. The Hornets and Santa Barbara were playing for just the second time ever in the Nest with the other coming in a Gaucho win in 2014.

The Hornets had just 28 digs against a physical UCSB attack that saw the Gauchos register 48 kills with 16 errors in 95 attacks. Sacramento State had 46 kills and hit .268 with eight team blocks. 

The Hornets had a 24-22 lead in the first set, but the Gauchos concluded the set on a 6-2 run. The second set saw the Hornets jump out to a 7-0 lead, and the third set saw UCSB open on a 14-0 run. 

This week's losses mark the first time the Hornets have been swept by a pair of conference opponents in the same week since 2014. Sacramento State is in its first season in the Big West after spending the past 30 years in the Big Sky.

Both Keonahi'ilani Solaita and Victoria Marthaler led the way with 12 kills, as Solaita hit .385 with just two errors in 26 swings. The Hornet middle blocker tandem of Nikola Gamlin and Skyler Gartin was potent again, as Gamlin had nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage while Gartin posted eight kills and a .467 mark. Gamlin is now hitting .407 this season, and Gartin is hitting .344.

Libero Reese Ampi posted a team-high 13 digs, Gartin a team-best four blocks, and the trio of Amy Ito, Makenna Wiepert and Solaita each had three aces. Wiepert also had 34 assists, five digs and three blocks. Mia Molnar added five kills. 

Sacramento State will play its first ever Big West road matches next week at UC San Diego on Friday at 7 p.m., and Saturday at UC Irvine at 5 p.m. 

NOTES
Ampi needs just three digs for 1,000 in her career. She would become the 30th player in program history to reach the milestone. Ampi transferred to Sacramento State prior to her sophomore season, and already has 997 digs despite playing less than three seasons with the program.