CHENEY, Wash. -- Hayley Hills had 12 kills and Sara Todorovich added 10 kills to lead Eastern Washington to a 3-1 victory (15-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-23) over Sacramento State in a Big Sky Conference volleyball match Friday evening at Reese Court.
Eastern Washington, which remains in first place in the Big Sky standings, improved to 10-5 overall and 5-0 in the conference with the victory. The Eagles have now won three straight over the Hornets dating back to last season after Sacramento State had won 10 in a row in the series from 2004-07. The Hornets fell to 9-8 overall and 1-2 in the conference with the loss.
None of the first three sets were close as Sacramento State ran away with the first stanza before Eastern Washington won the second and third sets in easy fashion. That set up a fourth set that saw the Hornets take a 21-18 lead, but could not hold on to force a fifth.
In fact, Sacramento State had trouble passing, serving and attacking late in the fourth set, including a service error at 22-22 giving Eastern Washington its first lead since it was 12-11. Eastern Washington would close the set on a 7-2 run, including the match clincher on a kill from Hills at 24-23. The Hornets had just two kills during the final 12 points of the stanza, and both of those came from the right arm of freshman Janelle Currey.
Hills and Todorovich were the only Eagles to connect for double figures in kills as Todorovich hit a match-best .533 with 10 kills and just two errors in 15 total attacks. The Eagles finished with 48 kills and hit .189 as a team compared to the Hornets’ 42 kills and .120 hitting percentage. Sacramento State had three aces compared to 10 service errors.
For the Hornets, Currey led all players with 16 kills, including a team-best .239 hitting percentage. She also had two aces (without an error), eight digs and two blocks. Senior Desiree Hoyum added 13 kills, a .222 hitting percentage and two blocks. Both junior Maddison Thivierge and freshman Kelsey Elston led the way defensively at the net with four blocks.
Four different Sacramento State players had at least eight digs, comprised of Hoyum, Currey, freshman Sydney Kordic (11) and sophomore Breanne Menees (9). For the second straight match, Menees was replaced by Kordic at libero to start the third set. In fact, the Hornets were using three freshman (Kordic, Currey and setter Hannah Hettinga) during the final two sets of the contest.
Sacramento State returns to action tomorrow night when the team travels to Oregon take on Portland State at 7 p.m. By the time tomorrow night’s match concludes, the Hornets will have played the preseason poll’s top three teams in consecutive matches. Portland State, Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado were selected to finish first, second and third, respectively, in the Big Sky preseason poll.
CHENEY, Wash. -- Hayley Hills had 12 kills and Sara Todorovich added 10 kills to lead Eastern Washington to a 3-1 victory (15-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-23) over Sacramento State in a Big Sky Conference volleyball match Friday evening at Reese Court.
