Sacramento State sweeps EWU volleyball
During a Big Sky Conference volleyball race that promises to be as balanced as any in recent memory, wins on the road could take on a whole new level of importance.
And perennial league power Sacramento State picked up a big one Saturday night by sweeping defending regular-season champion Eastern Washington 3-0 in front of a Reese Court crowd of 1,116.
“That doesn’t happen here very often,” Sac State coach Debby Colberg admitted after watching her Hornets (11-7 overall, 3-1 in the Big Sky) mount determined comebacks in each of the first two games to post a 30-27, 30-28, 30-22 win and help ease the sting of Friday night’s 3-2 loss at Portland State.
“We lost last night in five at Portland State and came in here not liking ourselves very much,” Colberg added. “But I’ve tried to impress on our kids that if you want to be better than just average, you have to win on the road, so this should help.”
The Hornets, who spotted Eastern (10-5, 2-2) a 7-0 lead and then came back from a late 26-23 deficit in the first game, won the tightly contested second before blowing the Eagles away in the third, thanks, in part, to the solid front-line play of Shannon Arts.
The 6-foot senior middle blocker had 13 kills in the match and hit .407.
“She got us out of a lot of trouble,” Colberg admitted. “But our passing off the serve to set up our offense was also much better than it was against Portland State, and that made a huge difference.”
Sac outhit the Eagles .311-.190 and was especially efficient in the second game when it hit .419.
But Eastern coach Wade Benson said the loss was as much about what his team didn’t do as it was about what the Hornets accomplished.
“Obviously, we were in control in the first game and let it slip way,” Benson said. “But this team is going to be a garbage team. We’re going to take some losses, but I think we’re going to come out 10 times stronger because of them.
“Quite frankly, I’m glad we lost 3-0, because I think that’s going to fuel the fire 10 time more and that’s going to be good for us. This teams feeds off that kind of stuff.”
The Eagles got a decent performance from senior middle blocker Ashley Jensen, who hit .381 with a team-high 11 kills, and freshman outside hitter Addie Webster, who also had 11 kills and hit .286.
Senior middle blocker Lizzy Mellor finished with a match-high 15 kills, but hit just .200, leaving Benson hard-pressed to find many other positives from the night.
“The fact that we should have won both of the first two games, I suppose, is a positive,” Benson said. “But the fact that we lost them is a negative.”
Eastern plays its next four matches on the road before returning home on Oct. 18 to entertain Gonzaga in a non-conference match.