Big Sky Conference standings
POCATELLO, Idaho — Despite a combined 42 kills from outside hitters Mikaela Nocetti and Sarah Davis, Sacramento State fell at Idaho State, 3-1 (18-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-20), on Saturday evening at Reed Gym.
The Hornets won the first set with relative ease and had set points at 24-23 and 25-24 of the second set, but could not break through and grab a 2-0 lead. In fact, the Bengals saved both set points and eventually ran off three straight points to take the set and tie things at 1-1. That seemed to give Idaho State all the momentum it would need as the Bengals quickly got past the Hornes in the third, and used an 18-7 run to finish off the fourth frame and the match.
Idaho State hit .331 , the second highest mark allowed by Sacramento State this season. The Bengals had 65 kills with just 15 errors in 151 attacks. Sacramento State also hit proficiently (.274, 62-19-157), but Idaho State had 13 more digs (68-55) and won all the big points in what turned out to be a very important second set.
The victory allowed Idaho State (17-12, 11-5) to win its fifth straight and leapfrog Sacramento State (15-15, 10-6) in the Big Sky Conference standings. With just two conference matches left in the regular season, the Hornets have fallen to fifth place, but sit just one back of third.
Idaho remains in first with a 14-2 league mark, followed by Northern Arizona (13-3), Weber State (11-5), Idaho State (11-5), the Hornets (10-6) and Northern Colorado (9-7) to round out the top six. Should Sacramento State finish tied in the standings with Weber State or Idaho State, the Hornets would own the tiebreaker over both teams. The top eight teams qualify for the Big Sky Tournament, which begins on Thanksgiving Day.
Sacramento State had won six straight over Idaho State prior to tonight's loss, which included a three-set sweep of the Bengals earlier this year inside the Nest.
Nocetti, who missed Thursday's match with injury, was back in the starting lineup tonight and played incredible all evening. The senior outside hitter tied her career high with 23 kills while hitting .352 with 10 digs and an ace. Davis set a career high with 19 kills while also adding five digs and a pair of blacks. Davis' previous career high was 17 kills, set earlier this season at Montana State. The pair combined for 42 of Sacramento State's 62 kills.
Rightside hitter Cianna Andrews had nine kills and four blocks, middle blocker Brie Gathright had six kills, five blocks and a .429 hitting percentage, and middle Lana Brown had four kills and five blocks. Setter Ashtin Olin had three of the Hornets' four aces while also tallying 54 assists, 11 digs and three blocks.
Libero Paige Swinney led all players with 21 digs and notched her sixth match with at least 20 digs this season. Skyler Takeda added five digs. Sacramento State had 10.0 team blocks to just 6.0 for Idaho State.
The Bengals were led by Abby Garrity's 24 kills, 17 digs and .311 hitting percentage. It was a Garrity kill that saved the 24-23 set point, and she tacked on another kill to give the Bengals a 26-25 lead in the decisive second frame.
Sacramento State's final two regular season matches will come on Tuesday at Portland State, and on Saturday at home vs. Northern Colorado. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday is Senior Night, as Hornet seniors Brown, Gathright, Nocetti and Takeda will be honored prior to the match.


November 17, 2018
VOLLEYBALL’S MATCH AGAINST NORTHERN COLORADO IS CANCELED

November 13, 2018
VOLLEYBALL MOVES TO 11-6 IN LEAGUE AFTER ROAD WIN AT PORTLAND STATE

November 10, 2018
VOLLEYBALL FALLS IN FOUR SETS AT IDAHO STATE

November 8, 2018
VOLLEYBALL DROPS 3-1 ROAD DECISION AT WEBER STATE


October 27, 2018
VOLLEYBALL SPLITS ROAD TRIP AFTER THREE-SET SWEEP AT SOUTHERN UTAH

October 25, 2018
WINNING STREAK COMES TO AN END, VOLLEYBALL FALLS AT NORTHERN ARIZONA

October 23, 2018
FIRST-PLACE VOLLEYBALL ON THE ROAD FOR A PAIR THIS WEEK

October 22, 2018
TWO STRAIGHT WEEKS! NOCETTI NAMED BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK AGAIN

October 20, 2018
VOLLEYBALL WINS FIFTH STRAIGHT, REMAINS IN TIE FOR FIRST PLACE

October 15, 2018
NOCETTI NAMED BIG SKY VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

October 13, 2018
VOLLEYBALL MOVES INTO FIRST PLACE AFTER SWEEP OF WEBER STATE

October 11, 2018
VOLLEYBALL CONTINUES TO ROLL, SWEEPS IDAHO STATE AT HOME

October 6, 2018
VOLLEYBALL WINS AT EASTERN WASHINGTON, NOW 4-2 IN BIG SKY PLAY

October 4, 2018
VOLLEYBALL’S WINNING STREAK SNAPPED IN 3-1 LOSS AT IDAHO

October 1, 2018
OLIN NAMED BIG SKY OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

September 29, 2018
VOLLEYBALL WINS THIRD STRAIGHT, BEATS NORTHERN ARIZONA IN FIVE SETS

September 27, 2018
VOLLEYBALL’S MATCH TONIGHT VS SOUTHERN UTAH PUSHED BACK TO A 8:00 PM START

September 27, 2018
VOLLEYBALL BEATS SOUTHERN UTAH, WINS 1,000TH MATCH IN PROGRAM HISTORY

September 26, 2018
VOLLEYBALL HOSTS A PAIR OF MATCHES; SEEKS 1,000TH WIN IN PROGRAM HISTORY

September 22, 2018
VOLLEYBALL WINS AT MONTANA STATE; NOCETTI SECURES 1,000TH CAREER KILL

September 18, 2018
VOLLEYBALL OPENS BIG SKY CONFERENCE PLAY THIS WEEK AT THE MONTANA SCHOOLS


September 14, 2018
INJURY RAVAGED VOLLEYBALL PLAYS TOUGH, BUT FALLS TO PORTLAND

September 14, 2018
VOLLEYBALL FALLS TO 13TH-RANKED WASHINGTON

September 10, 2018
SWINNEY NAMED BIG SKY DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK


September 6, 2018
VOLLEYBALL HOSTS THE 4-TEAM SACRAMENTO STATE INVITE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

September 4, 2018
VOLLEYBALL COMES UP JUST SHORT IN 3-1 HOME LOSS TO UC DAVIS


August 28, 2018
VOLLEYBALL FALLS ON THE ROAD TO SANTA CLARA


August 25, 2018
VOLLEYBALL FALLS IN FOUR SETS TO ARIZONA

August 24, 2018
VOLLEYBALL OPENS SEASON WITH 3-1 VICTORY OVER UTAH STATE

August 8, 2018
VOLLEYBALL SELECTED THIRD IN BIG SKY PRESEASON COACHES POLL