DAVIS, Calif. – UC Davis' Valerie Brain led all players with 15 kills, and the Aggies hit .373 on the way to a three-set sweep (25-12, 25-17, 25-22) of Sacramento State in a non-conference volleyball match Tuesday evening at The Pavilion.
Tonight marked the 70th meeting between the two programs, and the first time UC Davis has swept Sacramento State in 21 years. The last time came in Davis on Nov. 13, 1992. Still, Sacramento State owns a 50-20 lead in the all-time series.
The loss dropped the Hornets to 5-3 on the young season while UC Davis improved to 4-4. Tonight's match counted towards the Causeway Cup standings presented by ScholarShare. The Causeway Cup is the annual all-sports challenge between the two schools.
All six UC Davis starters hit at least .296, including Victoria Lee (10 kills, .692), Devon Damelio (13 kills, .370), Katie Quinn (six kills, .455), Brain (.306) and Kaylin Squyres (11 kills, .296). The Aggies hit better than .325 in all three sets, including .457 in the first frame. Both teams didn't commit many attack errors (SAC 7, UCD 12), but UC Davis finished with 27 more kills than the Hornets (56-29).
"I was extremely disappointed in our team's intensity at the beginning of the match," Sacramento State head coach Ruben Volta said. "We showed some fight in the third set, but it was a little too late."
The Hornets had trouble with serve receive most of the evening and really didn't put up much of an offensive attack until the third set. Sacramento State did finish the match with a .220 hitting percentage, but mustered a season-low 29 kills in three sets. Playing without senior starting middle blocker Chelcy Motes (flu), the team finished with a season-low three blocks while being whistled for a season-high eight block errors.
Rights rightside hitter Kayla Beal had a team-high eight kills, Sloan Lovett added seven kills and a .300 hitting percentage and setter Hannah Hettinga had three kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Freshman Courtney Dietrich finished with three kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
With Motes out, Volta started the combination of Dietrich and Kendall LaVine at middle blocker for the first time all year. Freshman Lexie Skalbeck started at defensive specialist, and played the second and third sets as the team's libero before finishing with a team-high 10 digs. Lovett had three of the Hornets' four aces.
Sacramento State returns to action when the team competes at the Courtyard Marriott Bronco Volleyball Classic in Boise, Idaho, on Friday and Saturday. The Hornets will play twice during the two-day tournament, including matches against North Texas and Idaho on Friday, and host Boise State on Saturday.
