Sacramento State

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Victoria Marthaler had a match-high 20 kills and Sacramento State picked up its first-ever Big West road victory in a 3-1 win (25-23, 25-23, 15-25, 25-16) at UC San Diego on Friday evening at LionTree Arena.

Another highlight in tonight's win was Hornet libero Reese Ampi notching her 1,000th career dig. In her third season as Sacramento State's starting libero, Ampi becomes the 30th player in program history to record the milestone. Last year's Big Sky Libero of the Year, Ampi transferred to Sacramento State from American River College prior to her sophomore season.

The Hornets, who were playing their first-ever Big West road match, improved to 8-8 overall and 3-2 in the conference. UC San Diego, which had won two straight, dropped to 7-9 and 3-2 in league. Sacramento State is in its first year in the Big West after spending 30 years in the Big Sky.

The two teams were playing for the first time since 1988, and Sacramento State has now won six straight in the series. The Tritons do not have a win over the Hornets since 1979.

Sacramento State did a nice job of closing the first two sets, which were both decided by two points. After trailing, 22-19, in the first set, the Hornets closed on a 6-1 run which included an ace from Skyler Gartin and a Marthaler kill on set point. 

Sacramento State used a 5-0 run to take a 17-13 lead in the second frame, and never trailed the rest of the way. UC San Diego did tie things at 21-21, but could not get over the hump. Like the first set at 24-23, Marthaler ended things with a kill.

The Hornets had 54 kills and hit .223 while the Tritons had 55 kills and hit .272. Both teams had 10.0 team blocks. Sacramento State had a healthy lead in aces, 9-4. That included three aces in the fourth set.

Marthaler posted her fifth 20-kill match of the season, and she added six digs and two aces. Middle blocker Nikola Gamlin had another big match, finishing with 10 kills, three blocks and a match-high .476 hitting percentage. The freshman is now hitting a ridiculous .492 in conference play. Fellow middle Skyler Gartin also had a big match with seven kills, five digs, six blocks, four aces and a .429 hitting percentage. 

Not only did Ampi notch her 1,000th career dig, she also registered her first career double-double with 10 assists and 11 digs. She had career highs in both assists and kills (2). Both Mia Molnar and Keonahi'ilani Solaita had five kills, and setter Makenna Wiepert registered 38 assists, 11 digs and four blocks. The blocks tied Wiepert's career high and the double-double was her team-best ninth of the season.

Amy Ito finished with 10 digs - her third double-figure dig match of the season.

Sacramento State will play for the second consecutive day when the team travels about an hour and 20 minutes to face UC Irvine tomorrow at 5 p.m. The Hornets have never played the Anteaters in Irvine.