Women’s Volleyball Suffers Setback at Sacramento State
9/26/2026 4:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
UCR falls to 0-2 in Big West play
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - UC Riverside (4-9, 0-2 Big West) fell 3-0 to Sacramento State (7-6, 2-0) on Saturday afternoon at The Nest.
Madison Pulsipher and Zeynep Belgutay put down early kills for UC Riverside, but the Highlanders couldn't clean up a slow start in the state capital and fell behind in set one.
UCR shifted gears in set two with a 3-0 lead off the opening serve, and later tied things at five with Andrea Brewer's second kill of the set. A second consecutive kill from the Rancho Cucamonga native gave UC Riverside its first lead of the afternoon at 6-5.
UC Riverside kept the Hornets' lead at a maximum of three points for the heart of set two. Sacramento State briefly extended it to four, but Nicole Hughes and Belgutay retained serve with a block.
The Highlanders put forth another strong start to kick off set three. Attack errors gave UCR leads of 6-2 and 7-3 before UC Riverside retained serve on a Hornet service error. The Highlanders additionally capped off a 4-1 run with an Elena Kasavica ace to go ahead 11-5.
Evelyn Hendrix kept the pressure on with a kill to retain serve after the hosts halted UCR's run. The visitors continued pressing the issue until a couple key runs from Sacramento State put set three out of reach.
UC Riverside returns to the court on Friday, October 2, for the home opener against UC Irvine at 6:00 pm on ESPN+. Tickets are available now at www.GoHighlanders.com/tickets.
