SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Nevada volleyball dropped season opening day against Sacramento State and Portland on Friday at the Sacramento State tournament.
Nevada 1 – Sacramento State 3
In the first match, Nevada's offense was led by
Kayla Afoa. On her return to the court, the Honolulu, Hawaii native finished the match with 21 kills, 14 digs, one serve ace, and one block.
In her debut match, freshman
Gabby McLaughlin followed Afoa's footsteps scoring a total of 13 kills, and was also a major defense player with 12 digs.
Senior
Andrea Alcaraz continues her leadership as the primary setter for the squad after recording 36 assists and 17 digs.
On the defense side, junior
Kia Kaohelaulii led the Pack with 21 digs in the match. Kaohelaulii also recorded a kill after a miss communication by the Hornets in the second set.
How it happened
Nevada took an early lead in the first set to win the game on a 25-20 score. Afoa led the offense from the beginning after scoring 10 of the 15 kills made in the set.
The Pack continued with a fast tempo offense in the second to keep the lead until the 21-16 mark. The Hornets were able to tie the game 24-24 and ended up reversing the score to win the set 27-25.
Sacramento State ended up winning the third and fourth sets, 25-21 and 25-15, closing the match 3-1.
Nevada 2 – Portland 3
Nevada offense was again led by sixth year Afoa with 21 kills and a .300 hitting percentage. McLaughlin, on her second match as a member of the Pack, scored back-to-back double-digits kills with 15. Both Afoa and McLaughlin recorded nine digs, while McLaughlin had four serve aces throughout the game.
Freshman,
Jordan Schwartz made an impressive campaign, recording eight kills and nine blocks on her second match of the day.
Senior,
Andrea Alcaraz made another double-digit game with 36 assists and 18 digs, leading the Pack defense. Alcaraz was followed by libero Kaohelaulii with 17 digs, and seven assists.
How it happened
The Pilots jumped first on the scoreboard and took a 15-7 lead on media timeout. The Pack made a six-scoring run, three of the points being serve aces made by
Hannah Platt, to force the Pilots to call a timeout on set point. The timeout made an effect, and Portland was able to close set one 25-22.
Portland continued their momentum, taking an early lead in the set. The Pack kept a close score until the 23-23 mark, where two kills from the Pilots closed the set 25-23.
The third set started on a back-and-forth fashion until the 6-6 mark. The Pilots took the lead, but a combination of points by Afoa and McLaughlin created an eight-scoring run for the Pack to a 15-10 lead. Nevada continued the strong offense to close the set on a kill by McLaughlin, 25-18.
Nevada was able to continue the rhythm on the fourth set. The Pilots took the lead, but the Pack tied the game 16-16. The Pack made a nine-scoring run to close set four and take the match to the decision set.
The Pilots took a 10-3 early lead on the fifth but the Pack made a comeback and tied the game 13-13 on an attack error by Portland. The comeback was not enough to reverse the score, and the Pilots won the fifth set 15-13 to close the match 3-2.
Nevada will be back tomorrow for a match against Middle Tennessee State at 11 a.m. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ and follow the live stats
HERE.
