Hornets sweep Grizzlies in Sacramento

Saturday, October 24

Sacramento, Calif.

2:00 PM (MT)

Montana

6-16, 2-8BSC

Sacramento State *

20-5, 7-3BSC

Montana

Sacramento State

10/24/2015 5:14:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Sacramento State won its fourth straight match and snapped Montana's two-match winning streak with a 25-14, 25-18, 25-20 victory at Colberg Court in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday afternoon.

The Hornets (20-5, 7-3 BSC) hit .361 to improve to 9-1 at home this season and remain within reach of Big Sky Conference leaders Northern Arizona and Idaho State.

"They were on their home court, where they play really well, and are playing with a lot of confidence," said UM coach Brian Doyon. "They are definitely a strong team."

Sacramento State, which swept Montana State on Thursday night, jumped out to a quick lead, taking a 7-0 advantage in the opening set. Four of those points came on Montana errors.

The Grizzlies (6-16, 2-8 BSC) made some adjustments, and though they never threatened the Hornets in endgame situations, they at least pushed them through sets two and three.

"We started off with some errors to open the first set, but I thought we settled in after that and played some good volleyball," said Doyon. "We shuffled some things around a little bit and were able to start putting pressure on them."

Montana hit .235 in set two and .281 in set three, but Sac State hit better than .300 in all three. The Hornets also had nine service aces to zero for the Grizzlies, who had five service errors.

"We hit in the 200s in sets two and three, so I was happy with the way we played at times," said Doyon. "But our nine receive errors and five service errors took us out of some of the bigger points."

Montana had three players hit better than .500. Capri Richardson and Mykaela Hammer both had six kills and no errors on 11 swings to hit .545, and Brianna Gardner had nine kills on .538 hitting and a pair of blocks.

The Grizzlies got little production from its left-side hitters, a position that was key to Montana's recent wins. Hannah Sackett was held to nine kills on .094 hitting, and Lia Gaogao had five kills on .000 hitting.

"I'm sure they scouted us and our two pins," said Doyon. "Unfortunately we were not able to get them going, and that got us into a little bit of trouble."

Raegan Lindsey had 27 assists, Gaogao and Sadie Ahearn both totaled 11 digs.

Morgan Stanley had 10 kills on .556 hitting to lead Sacramento State.

Montana plays at Eastern Washington on Thursday and at Idaho on Saturday. The Grizzlies defeated the Eagles in five sets and lost to the Vandals in five last week in Missoula.