RENO, Nev. -- Lindsay Baldwin had 10 kills, seven blocks and two service aces to help lead Nevada to a 3-0 victory (28-26, 25-21, 25-18) over Sacramento State in a non-conference volleyball matchup Tuesday evening at the Virginia Street Gym.
With the victory, Nevada improved to 7-9 overall, and 5-4 on its home floor. Sacramento State had its two-match winning streak halted and dropped to 4-15 with the loss. In addition, Sacramento State fell to 0-7 when playing on the opposing team’s home floor and has now been swept in three straight road matches. That marks the first time since 1994 the Hornets have been swept in three-straight matches on the road.
The Hornets are 31-10 all-time against the Wolf Pack, but 10-9 in Reno. In fact, Nevada has now won five of the last six meetings between the two teams in Reno dating back to 1998. The only road win for the Hornets over Nevada during that span was a 3-1 victory in 2006. Tonight marked the first of just two remaining non-conference matches on Sacramento State’s schedule with the final contest coming on Nov. 4 when the team travels to Pacific.
In the first set, both teams battled back and forth as neither squad held anything larger than a three-point lead the entire way. Sacramento State had set points at 24-23 and 26-25 but could not put the frame away. With the Hornets leading, 26-25, Nevada ran off three straight points on a combo block from Baldwin and Allison Hernandez (26-26), a service ace from Baldwin (27-26) and a solo block from Sage Aune (28-26), respectively, to put the set away.
The second set saw the score tied at 20-20 before Nevada went on a 5-1 run to close the frame. The Hornets practically gave the set away as the 5-1 Wolf Pack run was aided by a pair of Sacramento State service reception errors and two attack errors. The only point Nevada won with its offense during the run came on a kill from Jorgan Staker to give the Wolf Pack a 21-20 lead. The final four Nevada points of the set came via Hornet error.
The third set saw Nevada use an 8-1 run to take a commanding 13-6 lead and never trailed the rest of the way to close the set and claim the match.
Both teams did not hit well – Sacramento State .056, Nevada .117 – but the Wolf Pack were able to take advantage of a large disparity of service aces (9-2), not to mention totalling six more kills (37-31) and three more team blocks (10.0-7.0) than the Hornets. Sacramento State nearly had as many attack errors (25) as kills (31) in 108 total attacks.
Baldwin (10) and Hornet junior Desiree Hoyum (10) were the only two players in the match to post double-figure kills. In addition, Hoyum (11) and Nevada’s Hernandez (13) and Nicole Link (13) were the only players to record 10 digs or more. The double-double for Hoyum was her third straight, and fourth in the last six matches.
The only Sacramento State players to hit for a good percentage were sophomore Maddison Thivierge (.250, 9-4-20) and sophomore Whitney Mendivil (1.000, 2-0-2). Thivierge, who now has eight matches this year with at least nine kills, also had an ace and a block. Junior Melissa Melcher added eight digs and freshman Kelsey Elston had four kills and a team-high five blocks.
Sacramento State jumps back into Big Sky Conference play later this week when the team hosts Montana (Friday, Oct. 10, 7 p.m.) and Montana State (Saturday, Oct. 11, 7 p.m.). The Hornets won both their conference matches last week to improve to 2-2 in the Big Sky, and now sit in a tie for fifth place in the league standings. Sacramento State has never finished anything worse than second place in the conference standings since joining the Big Sky in 1996.
RENO, Nev. -- Lindsay Baldwin had 10 kills, seven blocks and two service aces to help lead Nevada to a 3-0 victory (28-26, 25-21, 25-18) over Sacramento State in a non-conference volleyball matchup Tuesday evening at the Virginia Street Gym.
