The Hornets conclude the year with a 25-8 overall record while the Gaels (who are the No. 10 seed at the tournament) improve to 24-3 and will face the winner of the Cal-Pacific match in tomorrow’s second-round contest. The Hornets’ .758 winning percentage is the team’s best since the 1995 squad posted a 35-4 overall record.

The loss was the first of the season for Sacramento State after winning the opening game of a match. Prior to the tonight’s contest, the Hornets were 24-0 when taking the opening frame. Saint Mary’s (24-3) defeated Sacramento State for the second time this season, including a 3-2 victory in Sacramento on Sept. 21.

Sophomore Atlee Hubbard led Sacramento State with 15 kills while junior Shannon Arts and senior Emily Wilson each added 11. Defensively, sophomore libero Kristin Lutes led all players with a career-high 36 digs. Senior Sandra Bandimere, who has led the team all season in kills, was limited to just eight kills in 52 attacks. Bandimere also committed nine errors and hit -.019. Bandimere finishes her four-year career with 1,456 kills, fifth all-time in Sacramento State program history.

Joining Lutes with double figures in digs for Sacramento State were Bandimere (16), Hubbard (13), senior Stephanie Gamst (11) and junior Mallory Hook (11). Arts, who also had a team-best seven blocks, hit .381 with just three errors in 21 attacks. Junior Natalie Melcher (seven kills, .300 hitting percentage) joined Arts as the only Hornets to hit at least .300 during the match (among players with at least two kills).

Aside from Kolkka’s 20-kill performance, the Gaels also received 12 kills from Missie Stidham and Lindsey Bogason. Stidham completed her double-double with 24 digs while Kaui Salzman recorded 22. Bogason hit .355 to go along with nine digs and four blocks.

The Hornets hit .154 as a team, including .033, .151 and .129 in games two through four, respectively. Uncharacteristically, the Hornets also committed 12 service errors, which were the team’s most in any match this season. Sacramento State had just three aces (all from Wilson) as the Hornets struggled with their service game all night long.

In the first game, Sacramento State snapped a 19-19 tie by going on an 11-7 run to close the frame. The 11-7 run came despite four of Saint Mary’s points coming via a Hornet service error. Hubbard led all players with six kills as the sophomore had just one error in 13 attempts (.385). Wilson had five kills and an .833 hitting percentage (5-0-6). No team had more than a four-point lead during the entire game as the Hornets’ 30-26 win was also their largest lead of the frame.

No team led by anything more than three points during the entire second frame as Saint Mary’s closed the game on a 5-2 run to snap a 25-25 tie. The Gaels hit just .036 as a team in the game, but Sacramento State hit worse (.033). Sacramento State had a 24-22 lead, but Saint Mary’s responded by scoring three of the next four points to tie the game at 25-25. After not playing at all during the first game, Bogason had four kills in the second frame.

In the third game, Saint Mary’s used a 7-0 run to take a commanding 27-19 lead and never looked back. A series of questionable calls that went against the Hornets during the game got Sacramento State head coach Debby Colberg her first yellow card in recent memory. The Gaels hit .222 and limited Sacramento State to a .151 percentage. Prior to the run of seven unanswered points for Saint Mary’s, no team had led by anything more than two points during the entire game.

In the fourth game, Saint Mary’s used an 11-3 run to take a commanding 20-12 lead. The Gaels never trailed by anything less than seven points the rest of the way.

Tonight’s match was the final contest in the Sacramento State careers of seniors Bandimere, Gamst, Wilson and Jackie Coudert. Bandimere and Wilson were each first team all-Big Sky Conference selections while Gamst was a second team selection. Coudert appeared in all but two matches this year after transferring from Cal State Stanislaus prior to the season.