FRESNO, Calif. -- USC’s Falyn Fonoimoana and Katie Fuller each had 10 kills to lead the seventh-ranked Trojans to a three-set sweep of Sacramento State (25-13, 25-16, 25-22) in the third and final round of the Fresno State Volleyball Invitational Saturday evening at the Save Mart Center.
With the victory, USC (10-0) concluded the tournament with a 3-0 record and won the tournament championship. Sacramento State, which fell to host Fresno State in five sets (15-13 in the fifth) earlier today, concluded the tournament with a 1-2 record. Fresno State went 2-1 at the two-day tournament while Cal State Bakersfield went 0-3.
The Hornets will now enter Big Sky Conference play next week with a 7-8 overall record. Sacramento State will travel to Northern Colorado (Thursday, Sept. 23) and Northern Arizona (Saturday, Sept. 25) next week, and those contests will finally end the team’s run of nine straight matches away from home.
The Trojans, who started five players that stood 6-foot-2 or better, finished with 10.0 team blocks and limited Sacramento State to a season-low hitting percentage of .050. USC also led the Hornets in kills (42-27), hitting percentage (.298-.050) and digs (48-33).
After USC won the first two sets handily, Sacramento State took the Trojans to the wire in the third frame. A kill from Janelle Currey gave the Hornets a 21-20 lead in the third, but USC finished the set on a 5-1 run.
For the Hornets, junior Eryn Kirby led the team with nine kills while junior libero Breanne Menees posted a match-high 14 digs. Currey added eight kills and eight digs, and Kelsey Elston had four kills and two blocks. Elston was the Hornets’ lone representative on the all-tournament team.
All but one USC starter had at least six kills, including Alexis Olgard who had eight kills, six blocks and a .429 hitting percentage, and Lauren Williams added six kills, three blocks and a .600 hitting percentage.
.jpg)
FRESNO, Calif. -- USC’s Falyn Fonoimoana and Katie Fuller each had 10 kills to lead the seventh-ranked Trojans to a three-set sweep of Sacramento State (25-13, 25-16, 25-22) in the third and final round of the Fresno State Volleyball Invitational Saturday evening at the Save Mart Center.
