By Brandon Cruz

The Nevada Women’s volleyball team made its way to Sacramento, California, on Friday, Sept. 16, to participate in the Sacramento State Tournament. The Pack had a strong showing in the tourney, but would falter against Cal Poly, ultimately ending their eight-game winning streak.

NEVADA VS. SACRAMENTO STATE

The Wolf Pack got off to a slow start against Sacramento State on Friday, Sept. 16, as they lost the first set by 9 points. Sacramento State came out on fire, defeating the Pack 25-16. Nevada quickly found their game, taking the second and third sets due to a host of kills from Madison Foley, Madison Morell and Kathryn Groenweghe. Sacramento State also made an overabundance of mistakes, practically handing the sets to the Wolf Pack. The fourth and final set would end in Nevada’s favor, with the Pack overpowering Sac State 25-16. The Pack would go into day two of the tournament on an eight-game win streak.

NEVADA VS. CAL POLY

The Cal Poly Mustangs snapped Nevada’s eight-game streak on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 17. The Pack opened up the first set with two points against the Mustangs. Cal Poly quickly tied the game up and the two continued to trade the lead. After a short while, the Mustangs went on a huge run, downing the pack 25-15 in the first set. The second set was much of the same, seeing Cal Poly win 25-19, putting them up 2-0 in the match. Although the Pack was down 2-0, they refused to go down without a fight. They opened up set number three with a 5-1 lead over the Mustangs. The set would stay neck and neck for a good while, until the Pack finally edged out the Mustangs, winning set number three on the back of Groenweghe’s final kill. The fourth and final set was the most interesting set of the match. The Pack found themselves tied with the Mustangs from points 25 through 32. Unfortunately for Nevada, Cal Poly would eventually take the cake, winning the fourth set 34-32, ending the Pack’s revered eight-game streak. After this game Morell moved to eighth in Nevada history in career points with 1,085.5 and Lyndsey Anderson is now seventh in school history, following her 48-assist performance.

NEVADA VS. GRAND CANYON

Following their devastating loss against the Mustangs, Nevada held no prisoners when squaring off against Grand Canyon. Nevada demolished Grand Canyon in all facets of the match, sweeping the match and leaving the Grand Canyon team with a bitter taste in their mouths. Morell, Foley and Groenweghe all had double-digit kill performances, the majority of which coming on the heels of Anderson’s 39-assist performance. The Pack’s convincing win over Grand Canyon puts them at 9-3 and according to the Nevada women’s volleyball website, it is the fourth best start in program history since 1984. The Pack will begin conference play this Thursday, Sept. 22, against Utah State at the Virginia St. Gym, in Reno.

Braind Cruz can be reached at bcruz@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @Brandon_Cruz23.