Box Score
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (November 17, 2016) – Second-seeded Sacramento State is out to prove it can be just as threatening of a team away from home, and took the first step Thursday with a hard-fought win. The Hornets outlasted No. 7 Eastern Washington in five sets to advance to the Big Sky Volleyball semifinals.
The 2016 Big Sky Volleyball Championship, presented by Red Lion Hotels Corporation, started off with a thriller as four Hornets recorded double-doubles in the 3-2 victory. Mikaela Nocetti totaled 16 kills with 15 digs, Shannon Boyle had 14 kills along 21 digs, Madeline Cannon added 13 and 14 while setter Kennedy Kurtz paced the offense with 45 assists and 10 digs.
The Hornets fought past a tough blocking effort from EWU, hitting .181 for the match while grabbing 87 digs. Brie Gathright added six kills and three blocks while Big Sky Libero of the Year Lexie Skalbeck earned 18 digs along with a rare kill.
Sac State had to find its footing a bit, but rolled once it did in the opening set. EWU jumped to an early 8-3 lead, only to see the Hornets hold them to eight points the rest of the set ending the opening frame on a 22-8 run. Sac State erased the early deficit with a 7-0 spurt, and wouldn’t trail the rest of the set hitting .306 and scoring eight of the last 10 points to win 25-16.
Eastern Washington grabbed a cushion in the second set with a 4-0 run going up 11-7. Sac State pulled within two twice, but the Eagles ended the set on a 7-2 surge with Ashley Seiler providing a kill and an ace to set up a block by teammates Jessica Gilbert and Kimberly Brinkworth for a 25-18 decision.
In a critical back-and-forth third set, Sac State prevailed from a late tie scoring 10 of the last 12 points fueled by three kills from Boyle while taking the last four on a service error and three EWU attack errors. Boyle and Cannon each had four kills in the set, all assisted by Kurtz as the Hornets took a 2-1 lead with the 25-18 victory.
With its back against the wall, EWU made a late punch as Ka’iulani Ahuna had three straight kills to go up 20-18 in the fourth set. Ahuna then helped make the final push with another kill and an ace, while Chloe Weber had a solo block and a kill from Seiler capped a 4-0 run to force a fifth set, 25-20.
With the match intensity at an all-time high, it was the Hornets that put together a big surge going up 8-6 and scoring the next four points after the court switch to take a 12-6 lead after a block from Boyle and Gathright. Sac State got a late dump kill from Kurtz, set up match point with an EWU attack error, and Boyle sent the Hornets to the semifinals with her 14th kill.
Once a Big Sky juggernaut that won 11 straight titles through 2007, the Hornets didn’t win a tournament match for the next seven years. That trend is over as the Hornets have earned a Big Sky tourney win for the second straight season, and will look to get over the hump in the semifinals and get to the title match for the first time since that streak pushed to 11.
EWU hit .165 as a team along with an 11-4 blocking advantage, but was done in by 27 attack errors and 14 more serving. Seiler earned a match-high 20 kills along with 13 digs and Ahuna also notched a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Weber grabbed 10 kills and six blocks, while libero Ashlee Vaofi contributed a match-high 28 digs.
Sac State will meet the winner of the Northern Arizona-Portland State match in the semifinals Friday at 4:30 p.m CT at the Betty Engelstad Center.