With the win, the Hornets have now won seven of their last nine matches while improving their record to a season-high two games above the .500 mark (8-6). In addition, Sacramento State has now beaten Saint Mary’s six-consecutive times while running its record over the Gaels to 26-4. Saint Mary’s, which had won four-straight matches, dropped to 9-4 with the loss.

A total of five Hornets had double figures in digs comprising freshman Kristin Lutes (21), senior Lisa Beauchene (20), freshman Jennifer Ferguson (17), Bandimere and sophomore Mallory Hook (13). Beauchene narrowly missed her fifth triple-double as she also finished with eight kills, 54 assists and four blocks.

Junior Emily Wilson tied her career high with 11 blocks as the Hornets finished with 14 team blocks. Sacramento State limited Saint Mary’s to a .153 hitting percentage. Freshman Leah Klemenhagen received extensive playing time throughout the match and finished with a season-high six kills.

Saint Mary’s was led by Jill Parmele’s 24 kills and 18 digs while Kaui Salzman recorded 15 kills. Cassandra Kolkka had a match-high 24 digs.

In the first game, Sacramento State used a 12-3 run to take a commanding 14-5 lead. Saint Mary’s, however, clawed its way back into the game, cutting the Hornets’ lead to 29-28. Imrie finished the game with a kill that deflected off the net and landed just inside the sideline for a Sacramento State point and 30-28 win. Both teams hits poorly (Sacramento State .052, Saint Mary’s .036) while Bandimere led all players with five kills.

In game two, Sacramento State held brief leads at 26-25 and 28-27, but could not put the game away. With the Hornets leading, 28-27, Saint Mary’s ran off the final three points of the game on a Lindsey Bogason kill, a Wilson hitting error and a Salzman kill, respectively. No team had larger than a four-point lead during the entire frame.

In the third game, Sacramento State went in front for the first time at 16-15 and never relinquished its lead the rest of the way. The Hornets’ 30-25 margin of victory was also the team’s largest lead of the frame. The Hornets hit .280 in the game, led by Imrie’s five kills.

With the score tied at 15-15 in the fourth game, Sacramento State ran off six-straight points to take commanding 21-15 lead. The Gaels chipped away at the lead until tying the score at 29-29. Saint Mary’s saved four game points before a Shannon Roland kill and a Saint Mary’s set error ended the contest in two hours, 14 minutes. Roland finished with eight kills in the match, including four in the fourth game.

Sacramento State returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 1 p.m. as the team hosts Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Conference opener. The match against NAU will mark the first of a season-long five-game homestand that sees the team also taking on Santa Clara (Sept. 30), Montana State (Oct. 2), Montana (Oct. 4) and Nevada (Oct. 7).