Sacramento State

SACRAMENTO -- In one of the wildest matches ever played at the Nest, Sacramento State saved four match points in the fifth set to outlast UC San Diego, 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-27, 17-15), on Saturday afternoon.

In a match that lasted two hours and 38 minutes, and featured a combined seven challenges, eight match points saved and plenty of intense moments, the Hornets came out on top for their ninth conference win. In fact, the Tritons saved four match points in the fourth set when they were trailing, 24-20. In the fifth set, the Hornets trailed, 14-11, and ran off three straight points to tie, and then saved another match point at 15-14.

Sacramento State scored the match's final three points, which included a Victoria Marthaler kill, Addy Scheitlin kill, and another Marthaler kill, respectively, to put things away. Marthaler was unreal, registering a season-best 30 kills to go along with a .364 hitting percentage. 

There were plenty of personal bests by Hornets today, including a career-high 17 kills from Skyler Gartin, career-best 57 assists from Makenna Wiepert, and career-high 14 digs from Amy Ito. Marthaler's five blocks were also a career high as she finished with a line of 30 kills, three aces, eight digs and five blocks. 

The Hornets hit .344 while limiting UC San Diego to a .229 percentage. Though the Hornets served tough all afternoon (finishing with 12 aces), they also had a school-record 23 service errors which helped keep the Tritons alive despite Sacramento State finishing with 25 more kills (76-51), and 30 more individual points (99.0-69.0).

Sacramento State has now won a season-high four straight (three coming via sweep), and improved to 14-11 overall and 9-5 in the Big West. The Hornets remain all alone in fourth place in the Big West standings, just a half game back of third-place UC Santa Barbara (9-4) who plays tonight.

Today was the final home game, and only four matches remain in the regular season as teams attempt to finish in the top six and qualify for the Big West Championship Nov. 25-28 in San Luis Obispo. 

Sacramento State swept the season series with UC San Diego (11-14, 7-7), which included a four-set road victory on Oct. 9. The Hornets have won seven straight matches in the series with UCSD, and have not lost to the Tritons since 1979 when both teams were members of the Div. II ranks.

The Hornets posted an 8-4 record in the Nest this season, including a 5-4 mark vs. Big West teams. Each of the team's final four regular season matches will be on the road.

The 30 kills marked Marthaler's fourth career match with a 30 piece. Fittingly, her 30th kill ended things. Gartin's 17 kills came with a .500 hitting percentage and four blocks. Charlee Lepp had 11 kills, and Nikola Gamlin nine kills and a season-high tying six blocks. Reese Ampi finished with 16 digs and Wiepert posted three kills, four aces, 11 digs and two blocks to go with the 57 assists. For Wiepert, it was her team-high 13th double-double of the season.

Sacramento State is back in action next week on the road against two of the top three teams in the conference. That includes a Friday night matchup at third-place UC Santa Barbara (7 p.m.), followed by Saturday afternoon at first-place Cal Poly (4 p.m.).

NOTABLES
• Prior to this afternoon's match, Sacramento State honored its lone senior Allison Mimbs who has been a member of the program for four years. Mimbs, a product of Chico, Calif., has not played this season while dealing with injury.