VOLLEYBALL FALLS TO UTAH VALLEY IN FINAL ROUND OF SAINT MARY’S TOURNEY

9/17/2011

Sophomore rightside hitter Kayla Beal led or tied for the team lead in kills, blocks and hitting percentage

MORAGA, Calif. -- Utah Valley hit .291 as a team, and erased a 24-21 second-set deficit, on the way to a three-set sweep (25-23, 26-24, 25-19) of Sacramento State in the third and final round of the Saint Mary’s Volleyball Tournament Saturday evening at McKeon Pavilion.

With the loss, Sacramento State completes the three-day tournament with an 0-3 record having lost to Kansas State on Thursday and host Saint Mary’s on Friday. The Hornets (5-8 overall) have now dropped five straight, matching their second longest losing streak in the last 19 years. Utah Valley improved to 9-5 overall, and today marked the first time both teams had ever faced each other in volleyball.

During the course of the losing streak, the Hornets are hitting just .147 as a team and have hit better than .165 once over that five-match span. However, each team Sacramento State has faced during the five-match stretch has had a record above .500, including the top-ranked team in the nation (Cal) to begin the streak.

The Hornets have fallen into a habit of squandering late leads in sets and tonight was no different. Sacramento State looked to be on the verge of tying the match at 1-1 when the Hornets grabbed a 24-21 lead in the second. However, the Wolverines ran off five straight points to capture the set and momentum. In last night’s 3-1 loss to Saint Mary’s, the Hornets squandered a 17-10 lead in the fourth.

In tonight’s match, Utah Valley had more kills (45-41), digs (48-39), blocks (13.0-8.0) and hit for a higher percentage (.291-.165). The Wolverines converted on three of their four set-point opportunities while Sacramento State was 0-for-3 in such situations.

For Utah Valley, Jaicee Kuresa had 12 kills, six blocks and a .385 hitting percentage while Erica Nish had 10 kills, seven blocks and a .500 hitting percentage. Chelsey Heaps added nine kills, eight digs and a .300 hitting percentage.

Sacramento State’s Kayla Beal either led for tied for the team lead in kills (10), blocks (5) and hitting percentage (.286). Eryn Kirby added 10 kills and nine digs, Kesley Elston had seven kills and five blocks, and Janelle Currey had eight kills. Libero Breanne Menees led all players with 16 digs. Menees was the Hornets’ lone representative on the all-tournament team, finishing the three-day event with an average of 6.27 digs per set. Overall this season, she leads the Big Sky Conference with an average of 5.13 digs per set.

The Hornets return to action next week when the team opens Big Sky Conference play at home with matches against Northern Arizona (Thursday at 7 p.m.) and Northern Colorado (Saturday at 1 p.m.).