WSU Volleyball Team beats Sac State for third straight win

The Weber State University Volleyball Team pulled back to .500 in Big Sky Conference play just in time for the home stretch of the season. The Wildcats defeated California State University, Sacramento Saturday night at the Swenson Gym 3-1 in front of 465 fans. "The key was our passing," said WSU Head Coach Al Givens. "Our passing went a little bit south in game two. We struggled a little more, and because of that we couldn't distribute the ball as much. It's like being the quarterback, and you're running four wideouts, but nobody's blocking. You're not going to have time to find them." After winning the first set 25-16 and losing the second set 21-25, the Wildcats came out of the intermission to finish off the Hornets 25-17, 25-19. Givens said another key to the victory was a balanced offensive attack. Chelsea Bair led the 'Cats with 17 kills, followed by Leah Burmeister who had 14 kills, and Brittney Bisaillon and Jenna Leggat who had 12 kills each. "It's always nice to see four of us in double figures," Leggat said. "It basically makes it harder to stop us, and it gives our team that confidence too." The Wildcats outblocked the Hornets 22-14, led by a match-high seven blocks from Amy Dunford. The Wildcats outdug the Hornets 53-47, led by a match-high 19 digs from Caitlyn Anderson. "I think the key is if we show up defensively," Givens said. "Everything else will fall into place." The Wildcats appeared to regress in their serving game Saturday night, with numerous errors early in the match, but came back to have a solid serving performance in the fourth set with three aces and one error. "I thought we were hitting some spots with our serving," Givens said. The Wildcats especially tried to hit Sac State's leading player Desiree Hoyum with serves, giving her as much action as she could handle. Bair ended the match with a match-high three aces. One of those aces came on the match-winning point. WSU's Jocilyn Randall had one ace. Givens said he liked the different contributions from the entire team. The Wildcats will now prepare for an important roadtrip against Northern Arizona University and the University of Northern Colorado. With just four matches remaining in the season, the Wildcats are trying not to focus too much on where they stand in the conference, but still be aware that they want to move up. "It's in the back of our heads," Leggat said, "but when we come out to games, we take it one game at a time. If we look ahead, bad things can happen." WSU and Sac State are now tied for fifth place, both 6-6 in Big Sky play. The Wildcats have won three straight matches to provide some important momentum going into the roadtrip. "We just need to go out and play like we did in the last three matches," Givens said.