SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Junior Michelle Franz had 11 kills and a match-high six blocks, and senior Kristin Lutes added 23 digs to lead Sacramento State to a 3-0 (30-25, 32-30, 30-25) victory over Western Kentucky in the second round of the Sacramento State Volleyball Invitational Friday evening at the Hornets Nest.The Hornets, who lost to San Francisco, 3-2, earlier in the day, concluded the first day of the tournament with a 1-1 record. The team improved to 7-3 overall and has now won four of its last five matches. Sacramento State concludes tournament play tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 9) against UC Riverside (2:30 p.m.) and Syracuse (7:30 p.m.).
Western Kentucky, which is the defending Sun Belt Conference champion and a 2005 NCAA Tournament participant, dropped to 7-3 overall with the loss and 1-1 in the tournament. The Lady Toppers defeated UC Riverside, 3-0, earlier in the day.
Western Kentucky had more assists (49-45), digs (77-72) and blocks (9.0-8.5) than Sacramento State and each team had 51 kills. The Hornets were able to win the match at the service line with five aces and six errors compared to the Toppers’ two aces and 11 errors. In addition, Western Kentucky was called for three ball-handling errors.
Six Hornets had at least six kills comprised of Franz (11 kills, .320 hitting percentage), senior Atlee Hubbard (11 kills, 12 digs), junior Jennifer Ferguson (season-high seven kills, .350 hitting percentage, 16 digs), senior Leah Klemenhagen (seven kills, .400 hitting percentage, four blocks), junior Lindsay Haupt (seven kills) and senior Shannon Roland (six kills). Franz now has a combined 31 blocks in her last three matches and leads the Hornets with an average of 1.64 blocks per game this season.
Western Kentucky was led by Megan Argabright’s 15 kills while Jenna Gideon added 12 kills and a .423 hitting percentage, and Aguila Orr had 10 kills and .714 hitting percentage. Western Kentucky hit .195 as a team compared to Sacramento State’s .185 hitting percentage.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
San Francisco 3, Syracuse 0 (30-21, 30-26, 30-25)
Western Kentucky 3, UC Riverside 0 (30-16, 30-28, 30-23)
San Francisco 3, Sacramento State 2 (30-24, 21-30, 30-23, 32-34, 16-14)
UC Riverside 3, Syracuse 2 (30-17, 26-30, 30-26, 24-30, 15-11)
Sacramento State 3, Western Kentucky 0 (30-25, 32-30, 30-25)
RECORDS HEADING INTO SATURDAY
San Francisco: 2-0
Sacramento State: 1-1
UC Riverside: 1-1
Western Kentucky: 1-1
Syracuse: 0-2
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
9:30 a.m. San Francisco vs. UC Riverside
12:00 p.m. Western Kentucky vs. Syracuse
2:30 p.m. Sacramento State vs. UC Riverside
5:00 p.m. San Francisco vs. Western Kentucky
7:30 p.m. Syracuse vs. Sacramento State
