Issue date: 9/21/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Patrick Storm The Hornets celebrate after a hard earned point. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Patrick Storm #8, Melissa Melcher, a Sophomore of CSU Sacramento makes a set clean at the opening game of the Aggie Invitational in Davis, Calif. [Click to enlarge]

The Sacramento State women's volleyball team now holds a school record losing streak of ten games after this weekend's Aggie Invite Tournament in Davis. The Hornets' loss to UC Davis on Saturday night also ended a 15-year-long, 12-game winning streak against the Aggies.

The tournament began Friday evening with a Hornet loss to Fordham in just three sets. Coach Ruben Volta blamed the loss on the Hornets' serve-receive and explained that the team wasn't passing the ball very well.

Sacramento State attempted to rally back against Cal State Bakersfield Saturday morning, but came out with a 3-2 loss. Bakersfield won the first set, but the Hornets fought back and won the next two sets 25-21 and 27-25. But Bakersfield won the final set, holding the Hornets to a .000 hitting percentage.

Going into the UC Davis game, the Hornets were optimistic about the outcome. "I think the biggest challenge is for us to control the ball. We're a little bit young this year, so we lack a lot of experience." Coach Volta also thought the two teams were similar in skill and that the Hornets didn't have any particular advantage over UC Davis. "I think we can win," he said before the game started.

The game started Saturday night with a decisive 25-18 Hornet victory in the first set. UC Davis battled back, winning the second set 25-20. But in the decisive third match, the Aggies took control of the game with a five point run and finished it 25-22. The fourth set resulted in a 25-20 Aggie victory and the first defeat Sac State had suffered against Davis in 15 years. Despite this, Sacramento State still holds an impressive all-time wins record of 48-17 against UC Davis.

This is Volta's first year as head coach for Sacramento State and the court is seeing a lot of new faces as the team has lost five starting players from last year. The team's 2-12 record is the worst in school history. The last match the team won was against Louisiana-Monroe on Aug. 30, leaving the team without a win for all of September.

Sacramento State's women's volleyball will be in Arizona at the Big Sky Conference on Sept. 25.

Amy Lewis can be reached at alewis@statehornet.com

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