CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Senior setter Natalie Melcher tallied five kills, 33 assists, six digs and seven blocks, and the Sacramento State defense limited Miami to a .109 hitting percentage as the Hornets defeated the host Hurricanes, 3-0 (30-26, 30-19, 30-24), in the first round of the Orange and Green Volleyball Challenge.Sacramento State has now won five matches in a row to inch above the .500 mark (6-5) for the first time since Aug. 26. After suffering a five-match losing streak, the Hornets have responded in impressive fashion, dropping just two games during the five-match streak. Miami had entered the match with a 5-0 record, including a 2-0 mark at home.
Sacramento State wraps up tournament play with two more matches tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 17) against both ninth-ranked Louisville (6 a.m. PST) and Michigan State (2 p.m. PST).
Four Hornets hit at least .360 in the contest, comprised of Melcher (.833), sophomore Michelle Franz (nine kills, .615 hitting percentage and four blocks), senior Shannon Arts (seven kills, .438 hitting percentage) and sophomore Lindsay Haupt (seven kills, .368 hitting percentage and eight blocks).
Since Melcher took over the setting duties prior to the Sept. 4 match against Houston, the Hornets have gone 5-0 and the Redlands, Calif., native is averaging 1.25 kills, 12.44 assists, 3.00 digs and 1.81 blocks per game to go along with a .439 hitting percentage.
Franz is hitting .451 (27-4-51) over her last three matches, and has a team-high .361 hitting percentage. Haupt now has 30 blocks in her last four matches, and has led a Sacramento State defense which has posted at least nine team blocks in six-straight matches (including 12.0 in today’s contest).
Junior Atlee Hubbard led the Hornets with 11 kills and a team-high tying 13 digs (her seventh double-double of the season) while junior Kristin Lutes also finished with 13 digs. Sacramento State hit .246 as a team, and tallied a season-best 12 service aces. Hubbard had five of those aces, which tied her for the fourth-best mark in the Sacramento State Div. I (1991-pres.) single-match record book.
Although Miami had more kills than Sacramento State (44-42), the Hurricanes were forced into 29 attack errors. Miami was led by Karla Johnson’s 18 kills while Francheska Savage chipped in 10 kills.
The Hornets played the match without the services of junior outside hitter Shannon Roland (broken clavicle) and freshman outside hitter Brittany Ferguson (flu). Roland, who is the team leader in kills (3.39 per game), suffered the injury earlier this week in practice, and is out indefinitely. In fact, Roland had posted double figures in digs in all but one match this year.
