VOLLEYBALL OPENS USF INVITATIONAL WITH 3-0 CRUSHING OF SAN FRANCISCO

9/14/2007

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Senior Missie Stidham led all players with 17 kills and senior Lindsay Haupt added nine kills and match highs in blocks (6) and hitting percentage (.571) to lead Sacramento State to a three-game sweep (30-21, 30-23, 30-14) of host San Francisco in the first round of the USF Invitational Friday evening at War Memorial Gym.

The Hornets, who improved to 9-3 overall and 1-0 at the tournament, conclude the tourney tomorrow against 14th-ranked Cal Poly (1 p.m.) and Xavier (5 p.m.). In tonight’s other first-round match, Xavier upset Cal Poly, 3-2. San Francisco dropped to 8-4 overall with the loss.

With the victory, Sacramento State avenged a 3-2 loss to San Francisco suffered last season. In fact, last year’s loss to the Dons marked the only defeat for the Hornets in Sacramento as the team finished 15-1 inside the friendly confines. Sacramento State made sure that didn’t happen again tonight as the team dominated throughout the match, and improved to 21-5 all-time against San Francisco.

The Hornets were on the offensive all night, tallying a season-high .382 hitting percentage (51-9-110). The team had just nine attack errors during the entire match while also finishing with three aces, 57 digs and 10.0 team blocks. Comparatively, San Francisco hit just .089 (35-24-123) and was limited to just 35 kills, 43 digs and 4.0 team blocks. The Dons largest lead of the match was 5-1 early in the second game, and no San Francisco player had more than eight kills.

Fresh off being named to the all-tournament team at last week’s Sacramento State Invitational, Stidham continued to impress, finishing with 17 kills, a season-high .459 hitting percentage (17-0-37) and 14 digs. Stidham has now hit better than .325 in three straight matches and five of the last seven. Over that seven-match span, she is hitting .302 (128-36-305).

Like Stidham, Haupt was just as unstoppable, finishing with nine kills and just one error in 14 attacks. She tacked on a match-high six blocks, but saw her streak of 11 straight matches with double figures in kills come to a close. Haupt has now hit better than .450 in three straight matches and four of the last five. She is hitting .386 (65-16-127) over her last five matches.

Sacramento State senior Jennifer Ferguson added 12 kills and 12 digs, senior Michelle Franz had seven kills, a .455 hitting percentage and four blocks, junior setter Rose Burke tallied 44 assists, seven digs and four blocks, and freshman libero Chelsea Goodsell had a match-high tying 14 digs.

Carly Babin and Alix Gombos each had eight kills to lead San Francisco.