VOLLEYBALL CONTINUES TO ROLL, IMPROVES TO 4-2 IN THE BIG SKY WITH WIN OVER WEBER STATE

10/9/2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Junior Eryn Kirby led all players with 13 kills, and freshman Kayla Beal and sophomore Janelle Currey both added nine kills as Sacramento State swept Weber State, 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-21), in a Big Sky Conference volleyball match Saturday evening at Colberg Court.

With the win, Sacramento State won its fourth straight while improving to 11-10 overall and 4-2 in the Big Sky. The Hornets, who have also won seven straight at home dating back to Sept. 4, moved into third place in the Big Sky standings behind first-place Northern Colorado (6-0) and second-place Portland State (5-1). The top four teams in the nine-member Big Sky reach the conference’s postseason tournament. Sacramento State has 10 conference contests remaining on the regular-season schedule.

Weber State dropped to 2-17 overall, 0-7 in the conference and 0-6 on the road. Sacramento State moved its all-time record over the Wildcats to 24-8, including a 14-2 mark when playing inside the friendly confines.

“We’ve gained a lot of confidence lately and we seem to being playing better each match,” Sacramento State head coach Ruben Volta said. “We did a nice job of balancing our attack tonight, as we got our outside hitters, middle hitters and rightside hitter all involved.”

Sacramento State hit .317 (44-11-104) as a team, the second-best mark of the season. Junior Kelsey Elston had six kills, three blocks and a .417 hitting percentage while Beal hit .389. The Hornets dominated nearly every statistical category, tallying more kills (44-28), assists (43-28), digs (55-42) and team blocks (9.0-5.0). The Hornets also limited Weber State to a .095 hitting percentage one night after holding Idaho State to a .098 percentage.

Kirby’s 13 kills came with six digs and a .281 hitting percentage as she tallied double-figure kills for the 14th time this season. Beal continued a torrid pace that has seen the rightside hitter average 3.41 kills and 0.71 blocks per set while hitting .309 over the last four matches. Currey’s nine kills came with seven digs, two blocks and two aces.

Despite the match lasting just three sets, junior libero Breanne Menees tallied 21 digs, marking her 14th match of the season with 20-plus digs. Sophomore Sydney Kordic added 13 digs, as Menees and Kordic combined for 34 of the team’s 55 digs. Both Hornet setters (Katie Aprile and Anna Schoener) compiled 20 assists, freshman Ashley Newcomb had two kills and two blocks, and freshman Angela Alftin had one kill and one block in her first appearance of the season.

For Weber State, Bethany Wray (11) was the only Wildcat with more than six kills, and Nina Blake added a team-high nine digs. No Weber State player hit better than .188 during the match.

Sacramento State returns to action next week when the team travels to Montana for matchups at Montana State (Friday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m. PDT) and Montana (Saturday, Oct. 16, 6 p.m. PDT).