Sophomore Sandra Bandimere

In the fifth and deciding game, Montana led 11-7 at one point before the Hornets rallied to tie the score at 13-13. After Lizzie Wertz pounded out a kill to give the Grizzlies a 14-13 lead, Wertz then committed a service error tying the score at 14-14. Montana again had a match point at 15-14 after a kill by Katy Kubista, but Bandimere tallied kills on consecutive points to put the Hornets on top, 16-15. The Grizzlies tied the score at 16-16 with a block on Bandimere, before an Emily Wilson kill and a Montana back row attack gave the Hornets the 18-16 victory.

With the win, the Hornets, who are now 4-1 in five-game matches this season, improved to 14-7 overall and 4-1 in the Big Sky. Montana dropped its fifth-straight match while falling to 7-9 overall and 1-5 in the conference. Sacramento State has now beaten the Grizzlies six-straight times spanning the last four years.

Bandimere''s previous career high in kills was 21, a number she set earlier this season at San Jose State. The sophomore, who has led the Hornets in kills in seven of the last eight matches, hit .317 while committing just eight errors in a team-high 60 attacks. Bandimere has also notched double-figure kills in 11 of her last 12 matches.

Junior Lisa Beauchene narrowly missed her fourth triple-double of the season as the setter finished with eight kills, 50 assists and a season-high 20 digs. Wilson (eight kills and a team-high six blocks), junior Kazmiera Imrie (seven kills, seven digs and four blocks) and senior Trina Book (six kills and 12 digs) also chipped in for the Hornets.

In just her second start of the season, freshman Shannon Arts notched five kills including a .417 hitting percentage (5-0-12). Jayme Wright finished with six kills, marking just the second time in the last six matches the senior did not finish with double figures in kills.

Sacramento State pulled out the win despite the fact Montana led the Hornets in virtually every statistical category including kills (78-72), assists (76-63), digs (83-73) and team blocks (12.5-11.0). Sacramento State, however, did limit Montana to a .176 hitting percentage, marking the 10th time this season the Hornets have held an opponent below .200.

Kubista led Montana with 21 kills while Wertz (16 kills and 21 digs), Whitney Pavlik (16 kills and 23 digs), Alice Myers (14 kills) and Danae Thorsness (match-high 25 digs) also played well for the Grizzlies.

Sacramento State returns to action next week as it hosts both Portland State (Thursday, Oct. 17) and 17th-ranked Eastern Washington (Saturday, Oct. 19). Both matches will be played inside Hornet Gym at 7 p.m.

NOTES -- Ali Mathewson finished with 13 digs, marking the fifth time this season the junior has reached double figures in digs...the Hornets hit .190 tonight, marking the fourth-consecutive match the team has hit below .200...Sacramento State''s 72 kills was the team''s third-highest output of the season...Bandimere is averaging a team-leading 4.00 kills per game over the last 12 matches...the Hornets are 12-1 when winning the first game of a match this season.