SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Shannon Roland (15), Atlee Hubbard (13) and Lindsay Haupt (11) each posted double figures in kills to lead Sacramento State to a 3-0 (30-28, 30-21, 30-22) victory over Northern Arizona in a Big Sky Conference volleyball match Friday evening at the Hornets Nest.The match marked the Big Sky opener for Sacramento State as the Hornets will attempt to win their 10th straight Big Sky regular season and/or tournament championship. Sacramento State, which improved to 11-3 and 1-0, has now won five in a row and eight of the last nine.
The Hornets have won each of their last 10 Big Sky openers, including victories over Northern Arizona in three of the last four years. The team’s 11-3 record is the best after 14 matches since the 1995 squad began the year 13-1. Sacramento State joined the Big Sky in 1996.
Northern Arizona, which opened its Big Sky season yesterday with a four-game loss at Northern Colorado, dropped to 4-7 and 0-2 in the conference.
Hubbard also had 12 digs to record her team-best eighth double-double of the season, Haupt had a match-high six blocks to go along with her 11 kills, and Roland’s 15 kills came with just two errors and a .382 hitting percentage. The Hornets had 19 more kills (58-39) than the Lumberjacks and limited NAU to a .162 hitting percentage. Sacramento State, which ranks 17th in the nation in both digs and blocks per game, has now limited 10-consecutive opponents to hitting percentages below .200.
Junior Michelle Franz had eight kills, a match-high .615 hitting percentage (8-0-13), six digs and four blocks, and junior Jennifer Ferguson added eight kills and 10 digs. Sophomore setter Rose Burke tallied 42 assists, 12 digs and four blocks. Senior Kristin Lutes had 18 more digs and is now just 10 shy of breaking the program career record, set by Carissa Buie (1,899 from 1995-98).
Northern Arizona was led by Kailee Savage’s 14 kills and Cybeles Onuegbulem added 10 kills.
Sacramento State will hop on a plane tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. as the team will fly to Utah to take on Weber State at 4 p.m. PDT. Only 21 hours separate the start times between tonight and Saturday’s match. The Hornets will then travel to eighth-ranked Santa Clara on Tuesday, Sept. 19, and return home for a match with Long Beach State (which is receiving votes in the top 25) on Thursday, Sept. 21.
