CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Junior Cayti Crowton (4) and sophomore Janelle Currey (3) combined for seven kills in the decisive fifth set to lead Sacramento State to a 3-2 (25-20, 18-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12) victory over Pacific-10 Conference foe Oregon State in the second round of the Corvallis Volleyball Invitational Saturday afternoon.
The tournament is the season-opening matches of the season for both teams as Sacramento State improved to 1-1 and tourney host Oregon State dropped to 0-2. The Hornets were coming off a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss to Illinois State last night in the first round of the tournament. That loss saw Sacramento State squander two match points and eventually fall in the fifth set by a 19-17 score.
Sacramento State played a Div. I-era record 12 five-set matches last season (posting a 5-7 record), and the five-set theme has carried over into 2010 so far. The Hornets improved to 5-3 all-time against Oregon State, and the victory was the program’s first over a Pac-10 team since a 3-0 win against Oregon on Sept. 18, 2004.
Sacramento State jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth set and never trailed the rest of the way. The Hornets led by at least two points during the entire frame, and after an Oregon State kill sliced the Hornets’ lead to 14-12, it was sophomore Olivia Moss who came up with the match-clinching kill.
Crowton had entered the fifth frame with just six kills during the match, but came up large in the fifth set. She had four kills with just one error in eight attacks, including kills at 7-5, 9-7 and 11-9. Currey, who finished the match with another double-double, had three kills and three digs during the set and recorded one of the biggest points with a kill to give the Hornets a 14-11 lead.
The Hornets showed some resilience during the third set, erasing a 14-9 deficit as kills from Currey accounted for four of the team’s final five points of the frame.
For the second straight match, Currey led all players with 23 kills. She was joined in double figures by junior Eryn Kirby (12 kills) and Crowton (10). Currey also had three assists, 17 digs, two blocks, 27.0 points and recorded her second double-double in as many matches. Junior Breanne Menees led all players with 26 digs and sophomore Sydney Kordic chipped in 14 digs for a Sacramento State defense that finished with 81 digs.
Moss and junior Kelsey Elston each had four blocks while Elston also had six kills, a .357 hitting percentage (6-1-14), two aces and eight digs. The Hornets hit just .184 (57-25-174) as a team, but limited Oregon State to a relatively low .213 percentage, and took advantage of 15 Beaver service errors. In fact, six different Oregon State players each had at least two service errors.
Jill Sawatzky’s 18 kills led Oregon State, and no other Beaver player finished with more than nine kills.
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Junior 
