Furious fourth propels Bears over Hornets

Thursday, October 27

Sacramento, Calif.

8 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

13-8,7-3Big Sky

Sacramento State

10-12,6-4Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Sacramento St.

10/27/2022 10:13:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: By Jason Dormeyer

UNC Athletics · VB Postgame at Sacramento State: Lyndsey Oates

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Avoiding playing a fifth set on its opponent's court, the Northern Colorado volleyball team rallied from a 19-12 deficit in the fourth set to defeat Sacramento State, 3-1 (25-15, 25-11, 16-25, 26-24), in a key Big Sky contest on Thursday night.

Battling for top positioning in the Big Sky Conference standings, Northern Colorado (13-8, 7-3 Big Sky) continued its torrid play with its fifth straight win. The victory also secured a tiebreaker over the Hornets as the Bears completed a season sweep against Sacramento State (10-12, 6-4 Big Sky) after the team registered a 3-1 win in Greeley on Oct. 1.

The Bears will now turn their attention to Saturday's match at league-leading Portland State. Opening serve is set for 3 p.m. against the Vikings.

Though Northern Colorado holds the top-ranked offense in the Big Sky, its defense made a statement in the first two sets by holding the Hornets to a negative hitting percentage en route to a pair of wire-to-wire wins.

Up 2-0, UNC finally faced resistance in the third set as the home side jumped out to a 12-5 lead and eventually a 25-16 win. After evading the sweep, Sacramento State kept the pressure up in the fourth set by generating as much as a seven-point lead at 16-9 and again at 19-12.

Following a timeout, UNC immediately regrouped and used 10-3 run with key kills from Cece Huhn and Makenzie Harris to knot the set at 22-22.

A Kailey Jo Ince termination led to the first match point at 24-22 before a Sacramento State attacking error provided the clincher.

Ince led all players with 16 kills and added 11 digs for her eighth 'double-double' of the season. Harris posted 14 kills and a match-high 19 digs for a 'double-double' of her own, her sixth of the season and the first time the teammates accomplished the feat in the same match.

UNC libero Michaela Boon chipped in with 17 digs to help the bears out dig the Hornets 65-48 in the match.