RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Sacramento State limited California Baptist to just 17 kills and a negative hitting percentage (-.057) on the way to quick three-set sweep of the Lancers (25-11, 25-20, 25-21) on Saturday evening at Van Dyne Gym.
In a match that lasted just an hour and 21 minutes, the Hornets dominated throughout. The Lancers' kills and hitting percentage were the lowest by a Sacramento State opponent this season, and CBU's largest lead of the evening was 6-4 early in the third set. When combining kills, aces and blocks, California Baptist combined had just 25.0 points. Fifteen of the Lancers' points in the match came on Hornet service errors.
Coupled with last night's victory at UC Riverside, Sacramento State swept this week's road trip with both results coming via sweep. The Hornets improved to 12-11 overall, 7-5 in the Big West, and 4-1 on the road vs. league opposition. In addition, Sacramento State moved into a tie for fourth place in the conference standings with UC Irvine, one game back of third-place UC Santa Barbara.
Entering tonight's match, California Baptist had won three straight, including a five-set victory over Utah Valley last night.Â
Tonight's victory also completed a season sweep of California Baptist, which included a 3-0 win at the Nest on Sept. 24. This year's matches marked the first time the Hornets and Lancers have played each other.
Sacramento State had 39 kills, hit .287, and compiled nine team blocks and seven aces. By comparison, CBU had just 17 kills with 21 errors in 70 attacks. The Lancers also finished with only 16 assists and 21 digs. No Cal Baptist player finished with more than four kills.
Victoria Marthaler led all players with 13 kills to go with a .333 hitting percentage. The junior outside hitter is now just four kills shy of 1,000 for her career.
Mia Molnar finished one kill of her career high, as the freshman finished with 10 to go with a .333 hitting percentage and three blocks.
Keonahi'ilani Solaita rounded out the three Hornets with double-figure kills as the sophomore finished with 10 and a .389 hitting percentage.
Setter
Makenna Wiepert had 36 assists and seven digs,
Skyler Gartin three kills and five blocks, and
Nikola Gamlin three kills and three blocks. Libero
Reese Ampi had seven digs and two aces, and
Amy Ito added six digs.
Sacramento State will play its final two home matches next week on Thursday vs. UC Irvine at 7 p.m., and Saturday vs. UC San Diego at 1 p.m. With just six matches left in the regular season, both contests next week are huge. The Hornets are currently tied with UC Irvine in fourth place, and UC San Diego is a game back at 6-6. The top six teams qualify for the Big West Championship.
