Senior libero Breanne Menees finished with 31 digs, two shy of her career high
MORAGA, Calif. -- After hitting .297 in the first set, Sacramento State failed to hit anything better than .152 during each of the last three frames on the way to a 3-1 loss (17-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-21) to host Saint Mary’s in the second round of the Saint Mary’s Volleyball Tournament Friday evening at McKeon Pavilion.
With the loss, the Hornets (5-7 overall) dropped to 0-2 at the three-day tournament, which includes a four-set loss to Kansas State yesterday. Sacramento State plays its final match of the tournament tomorrow against Utah Valley at 4 p.m. With the victory, Saint Mary’s, which defeated Utah Valley in five sets on Thursday, improved to 6-5 overall.
Sacramento State still leads the all-time series with Saint Mary’s, 27-8, but the Gaels have won four of the last five meetings.
After the Hornets won the first set handily, Sacramento State fell victim to a pair of large Saint Mary’s runs that helped the Gaels win the second and fourth sets and close out the match. In the second set, the Gaels held a slim 11-10 lead before closing the frame on a 14-6 run. The Hornets looked to be in control after taking a 17-10 lead in the fourth set only to see Saint Mary’s roll off a 15-4 run to complete its 3-1 match victory.
The Hornets hit just .131 (43-23-153) as a team, their third lowest output of the season. Saint Mary’s didn’t hit much better (.168), but the Hornets had 13 less kills (56-43). Both teams had 73 digs and Sacramento State had four more blocks than the Gaels (13.0-9.0).
Junior outside hitter Janelle Currey was the lone Hornet with double figures in kills as she finished with 12. Middle blocker Kelsey Elston had eight kills, six blocks and a team-high .375 hitting percentage while rightside hitter Kayla Beal had eight kills and matched her career high with nine blocks. Libero Breanne Menees fell two digs shy of her career with a match-best 31. In fact, besides Menees, no other player on the floor had more than 17 digs. Maddison Thivierge, Olivia Moss and Currey each added three blocks.
Four Saint Mary’s players had double figures in kills, comprised of Lauren Copp (14), Samantha Tinsley (13), Sarah Reams (10) and Natalie Loos (10). Reams hit .381 while adding nine digs and three blocks. Milena Popovic led the Gaels with 17 digs.
Tomorrow afternoon’s matchup with Utah Valley will mark the first time the two schools have faced each other in volleyball.
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