SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State posted the fifth-best hitting percentage (.424) in school history and freshman Jennifer Ferguson tallied a team-best 13 kills to lead the Hornets to a 3-0 (30-15, 30-25, 30-18) victory over Idaho State in a Big Sky Conference volleyball match Saturday evening at the Hornets Nest.The Hornets, who had 49 kills with just seven errors in 99 total attacks, won for the sixth time in their last seven matches while improving to 15-8 overall and 6-1 in the Big Sky. In addition, Sacramento State won for the 13th-consecutive time against Idaho State and is now 14-1 all-time against the Bengals. Idaho State, which had won four of five, dropped to 14-6 and 4-3 in the conference.
Ferguson’s 11 kills accompanied a career-high .500 hitting percentage as the Chico, Calif., native had no errors in 26 attacks. Five Sacramento State players hit above .400 comprising Ferguson, seniors Kazmiera Imrie (eight kills, .500) and Lisa Beauchene (eight kills, .462), sophomore Shannon Arts (five kills, .444) and freshman Shannon Roland (two kills, 1.000). Beauchene also had 31 assists, 10 digs and four blocks.
Junior Emily Wilson added seven kills and a .385 hitting percentage, and junior Sandra Bandimere had a match-high 13 digs for the Hornets. Arts, who also had a match-high five blocks, has now combined to hit .500 over her last two matches, raising her hitting percentage to a season-high .235.
Idaho State hit just .135 as the team did not hit above .200 in any game during the match. The Bengals’ Ali Gorny led all players with 14 kills while Lindsay Phillips chipped in 10 kills. The Bengals trailed the Hornets in every statistical category, including kills (49-43), assists (42-34), digs (46-39) and team blocks (8-4).
After its loss to Eastern Washington last Sunday, Sacramento State has bounced back well, posting its two most convincing victories of the season this week. The Hornets beat Weber State, 3-0 (30-19, 30-17, 30-24) on Thursday.
Beauchene had one of her most impressive weeks of the season, combining to hit .577 with per game averages of 3.00 kills, 11.83 assists, 3.83 digs and 0.83 blocks over two matches. She posted her seventh triple-double of the season against Weber State.
Sacramento State returns to action next week for two road matches against non-conference opponent San Francisco (Tuesday, Oct. 21) and Big Sky-foe Northern Arizona (Saturday, Oct. 25). Sacramento state has just nine matches remaining on its regular-season schedule.
