SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The UC Riverside Volleyball Team (4-2) kicks off the Sacramento State Invitational Today as the Highlanders look to have another successful outing in their third tournament of the season. UCR is set to take on Seattle Friday evening and compete in back-to-back matches Saturday with host Sacramento State and Nevada.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Seattle comes into Friday's match with a 3-3 record having won its last match 3-0 over Weber State. The Highlanders are 0-2 against the Redhawks all-time with the last matchup being in 2013.

The host Hornets come into the tournament at 3-5 after dropping their last two matches. Sac State and UCR have faced each other several times with the Hornets holding an 8-6 all-time record, but since UCR entered Division I play, the two teams are locked at 2-2.

Nevada boasts the best record of the four tourney teams entering at 5-1 and riding a three-match win streak, but UCR owns the all-time record 7-4 over the Wolf Pack.

TOURNEY TERROR
The Highlanders have fared well in their two tournaments so far as the team posted a 2-1 record in both the Riverside-Fullerton Classic and the Idaho State Tournament. Both times UCR collected wins in the first two matches which included 3-0 sweeps of UMASS Lowell and Idaho State. Senior Kaiulani Ahuna and sophomore Yuliya Ushakova were both named to the All-Tournament Team at the Idaho State tournament team.

KAI DON'T LIE
Senior outside hitter Kaiulani Ahuna has been nothing short of spectacular so far in the 2018 season. Opening weekend, Ahuna broke two program records notching 30 kills (Rally-Scoring Era Record) in a win over Montana and then smashing 33 more (DI Record) on Eastern Washington to become the first Highlander to ever put up 30+ on back-to-back days. Following this weekend, Ahuna led the NCAA in total kills and kills p/set and was awarded Player of the Week Awards from the Big West Conference, VolleyMob, and the AVCA.