Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Sacramento State
'Cats drop heart-breaker to Hornets, 3-2
11/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Literally two points from victory, the Wildcats ran into the wall.
Leading 23-20 in the fourth set and leading the best-of-5 match 2-1, the Weber State University women's volleyball team couldn't close the door and ultimately fell 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 28-30, 26-24, 15-8) to Sacramento State on Friday afternoon at Swenson Gym.
Sophomore left side hitter Bethany Wray had her second-highest offensive output of the season with 18 kills, tallying a career-high 22 digs and four service aces.
Freshman left side hitter Piper Wahlin, celebrating her 19th birthday, played her best match of the season reaching career-highs in kills (16), digs (13), service aces (2) and blocks (2).
Wahlin's spectacular play in the fourth set had the Wildcats on the brink of victory as she tallied a kill and back-to-back service aces to push Weber State out to a 23-20 lead.
Sacramento State rallied with four straight points to take a 24-23 lead, with Weber State answering back on a kill from Wray to tie it at 24-all. The Hornest, however, scored the final two points to take the set and force a decisive fifth set.
Weber State hit just .077 in the fifth set, getting six kills with four errors on 26 attacks. Sacramento State hit .278 on 18 attempts.
Junior libero Nina Blake had 19 digs and a service ace, while redshirt-freshman middle blocker Elli Graff had seven kills and six blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Emily Jones had nine kills for Weber State.
The Wildcats, who dropped to 3-23 overall (1-12 in Big Sky Conference), will play in-state rival Utah in a non-conference match on Saturday at Swenson Gym. The match, with first serve slated for 7 p.m., caps a home triple-header for Weber State, with the women's and men's basketball teams set to take on exhibition opponents at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, at the Dee Events Center.
