Senior Jayme Wright |
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Sacramento State volleyball team swept both Birmingham-Southern (30-23, 30-16, 30-15) and host Sam Houston State (30-17, 30-17, 30-19), and senior Jayme Wright was named tournament MVP as the Hornets completed their final day of competition at the Sam Houston State Invitational today at Johnson Coliseum.The Hornets finished the tournament with a 3-1 record and placed second at the five-team tourney. Illinois-Chicago, Sacramento State and Sam Houston State each finished with 3-1 records as Illinois-Chicago was crowned champions by virtue of its victory over the Hornets yesterday. The tournament marked the first matches of the season for all five teams that participated (Texas A&M Corpus Christi being the fifth team).
Wright was named MVP after combining for a team-high 44 kills (3.67 per game), 59 digs (4.92 per game) and four service aces in four matches. Junior Lisa Beauchene was also named to the all-tournament MVP after combining for 136 assists, 39 digs, eight blocks, 23 kills, five service aces and a .274 hitting percentage over four matches.
Against Sam Houston State, the Hornets hit a season-high .367 while the Bearkats hit just .067 as a team. Wright led all players with 13 kills and 17 digs while senior Loretta Coffman tallied 12 kills and a .478 hitting percentage (12-1-23). Beauchene notched six kills, 10 digs and 39 assists.
Sacramento State hit .438, .333 and .316, in games one through three, respectively, while also finishing with a season-best 8.0 team blocks. Carrie Sartain led Sam Houston State with 12 kills while Liz Dahlstrom finished with 15 digs.
Against Birmingham-Southern earlier in the day, four Hornets recorded double figures in kills comprising Wright (match-high 12 kills, .303 hitting percentage), sophomore Sandra Bandimere (career-high tying 11 kills), junior Kazmiera Imrie (11 kills) and Coffman (10 kills). Coffman’s 10 kills came without an error as the senior led all players with a .625 (10-0-16) hitting percentage. Coffman combined to finish with 22 kills and a .538 hitting percentage in both matches today.
Wright and Bandimere each finished with double-doubles as the they tallied 14 and 11 digs, respectively. Beauchene finished with nine digs and a season-high 43 assists. Sacramento State hit .295 in the match while limiting Birmingham-Southern to a .061 mark. The Hornets almost doubled the Panthers in kills (54-29) and assists (49-28). Rachel Malmborg led the Panthers (1-3) with nine kills while Jana Smelley finished with a match-high 18 digs.
Sacramento State returns to action next week as the team competes at the two-day, three-match UConn Invitational in Storrs, Conn. The Hornets face Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Friday, Sept. 6, before taking on Temple and host Connecticut on Saturday, Sept. 7. The tournament will mark the first time Sacramento State has played on the East Coast since competing at a tournament in Rhode Island during the 1999 season.
NOTES -- Against Birmingham-Southern, junior Ali Mathewson finished with a career-high four service aces...at 3-1, Sacramento State is off to its best start since the 1996 team opened the season with a 3-1 record.
