Sacramento State (14-5 overall, 8-1 Big Sky Conference) looks to extend its season-high seven-match winning streak as it plays three times this week, including two at home and one on the road. The Hornets close their four-match homestand as they welcome non-conference opponents Nevada (Tuesday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m.) and 16th-ranked BYU (Thursday, Oct. 25, 7 p.m.) to Hornet Gym. Sacramento State closes the week as it travels to Flagstaff, Ariz., to face Northern Arizona on Saturday, Oct. 27. After the NAU contest, the Hornets play just five more regular season matches before the Big Sky Tournament on Nov. 15-17.

In addition to Sacramento State’s seven-match winning streak, the team has also won 21-consecutive games over that span (the Div. I era school record is 24-straight games, set by the 1995 squad). The Hornets have swept six-straight opponents and have yet to lose in Hornet Gym this season where the team is a perfect 6-0. Sacramento State sits all alone atop the Big Sky standings, two games in front of Northern Arizona, Weber State and Eastern Washington, who are each tied for second with 6-3 conference records. The top six squads in the eight-team conference advance to the Big Sky Tournament while the first-place team hosts the tourney. The Hornets, who own the tiebreaker over Weber State should both teams finish with the same record, are looking to host the tournament for the fifth-consecutive year.

Nevada will enter Tuesday’s match with a 13-3 overall record as the Wolf Pack defeated both Fresno State and Boise State at home last week. The Wolf Pack, who are currently receiving votes in the top 25, defeated 17th-ranked Pacific in three games earlier this season. Nevada is undefeated at home (9-0), but is 3-2 on the road including losses at San Jose State and Fresno State. Tuesday’s match will mark the 34th time the two teams have met as Sacramento State owns a 27-6 advantage and has never lost to Nevada at home (15-0). However, Nevada has won two of the previous three meetings, including a 3-1 victory last season in Reno.

BYU will bring a 12-4 overall record and a No. 16 ranking in the USA Today/AVCA Div. I poll into Thursday night’s match. However, the Cougars have lost two straight and three of their last five after falling to 25th-ranked Utah State at home and 15th-ranked Utah on the road last week. BYU has defeated three top 25 teams this season including Utah (whom they defeated on Sept. 20), Colorado and UC Santa Barbara. BYU defeated the Hornets in three games the only time the two teams met (Sept. 28, 1991).

Northern Arizona currently has a 12-4 overall record and a 6-3 mark in the Big Sky after defeating both Idaho State and Weber State at home last week. NAU has won six of its last seven matches after the Hornets defeated the Lumberjacks in five games back on Sept. 29. Northern Arizona, who travels to Arizona State on Tuesday, has yet to lose at home this season (8-0). The Lumberjacks tied Sacramento State for the Big Sky regular season championship last season and won the Big Sky Tournament in 1999. Sacramento State owns a 13-5 all-time record over NAU, but the Lumberjacks have won the last two meetings between the teams in Flagstaff, Ariz. (a 3-0 win in 1999 and a 3-2 victory last season).

Head Coach Debby Colberg

For the 26th-straight season, Debby Colberg will control the Hornet sidelines. During her tenure, Colberg has posted a 665-234 record (.740 winning percentage) and has led the team to 12 league titles and 20 postseason berths. Her 665 wins rank eighth on the all-time NCAA list among coaches with at least five years of Div. I experience. Last season, Colberg was named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in the last four years. During her tenure, she has been honored as league coach of the year six times, regional coach of the year four times and national coach of the year once.

Colberg came to Sacramento State in 1976 and finished 9-8 in her first season. She captured her first league title in 1978 when the team posted a 12-2 mark in the Golden State Conference. Colberg guided the Hornets to the Div. II national championship in 1981, including two third-place finishes (1983-84) and a second-place finish in 1989. She has coached just two losing squads and her teams have averaged 26.0 wins per year.

The Hornets have posted a 245-80 (.754) record since moving to Div. I in 1991. In addition to leading the Hornets to four-consecutive NCAA Div. I Tournament appearances, she has also had the added responsibility of serving as the school’s athletic director since February of 1999.

A Look At Last Week’s Action

Sacramento State swept two more opponents last week, getting by Weber State (30-23, 30-28, 30-22) on Friday and Idaho State (30-13, 30-19, 30-26) on Saturday. The victories increased the Hornets’ record to a season-high nine wins over .500.

Friday, junior Jayme Wright led all players with 19 kills and 13 digs as the Hornets defeated Weber State to take over sole possession of first place in the Big Sky standings. Weber State and the Hornets had entered the contest with identical 6-1 conference records. Senior Alison Gahr chipped in 11 kills and a .421 hitting percentage and sophomore Kazmiera Imrie added 10 kills to round out the Hornet threesome in double-figure kills. Setter Lisa Beauchene finished with 50 assists, or 16.67 per game.

Saturday, senior Tasman Dwyer and Beauchene each had 14 kills to lead the Hornets to victory over the Bengals. Dwyer’s 14 kills came with zero errors in 20 total attacks. Sacramento State hit a season-high .381 as four Hornets recorded a .500 hitting percentage or better including Beauchene (.706), Dwyer (.700), Imrie (10 kills, .500) and Gahr (seven kills, .778). Wright led the Hornets in digs for the fifth-consecutive match as the junior totalled 15. Senior Kelly Voeltz added 11 digs to round out the Hornets with double-figure kills.

Wright Is Named Big Sky Player Of The Week

Junior outside hitter Jayme Wright was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week after leading the Hornets to a pair of victories last week over Weber State and Idaho State. The award marks the third-straight week in which a Hornet has received the honor as Lisa Beauchene (Oct. 8) and Tasman Dwyer (Oct. 15) were named previously.

Wright combined to record per game averages of 4.67 kills, 4.67 digs and 0.50 service aces per game. The Pleasanton, Calif., native also struck for a .313 hitting percentage and committed just eight errors in 64 total attacks. In Friday’s first-place showdown with Weber State, she led all players in kills (19) and digs (13) while also recording a season-high .459 hitting percentage. Wright, who also notched three aces, committed just two errors in 37 total attacks. Her 19 kills were also a season high. Saturday, Wright led all players with 15 digs while adding nine kills.

Wright has now led Sacramento State in digs in five-consecutive matches and has recorded double figures in digs in 10 of her last 11 contests. In addition, she has notched eight double-doubles (in kills and digs) this season. For the year, Wright leads the Hornets in digs (3.44 per game), and is second on the squad in kills (2.91 per game) and third in assists (0.72 per game). In conference competition, Wright leads the Big Sky with 4.06 digs per game. Overall, she is fourth in the conference in digs.

Hitting The Mark

Sacramento State has hit at least .292 in each of its last five matches and has combined to hit .323 over that span. Since Oct. 6, the Hornets have raised their hitting percentage 25 points to its current mark of .221. Over that five-match stretch, four Hornet regulars are hitting above .350, including Tasman Dwyer (.495), Lisa Beauchene (.484), Alison Gahr (.442) and Kazmiera Imrie (.385). If the .221 mark holds until the end of the season, it would be the Hornets’ highest hitting percentage since 1995 when the team hit .259. Since 1995, no Sacramento State squad has hit higher than .210. In fact, the .221 hitting percentage would rank as the team’s fourth highest mark since Sacramento State moved to Div. I in 1991.

Home Cooking

Since Sacramento State joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996, the Hornets have recorded a 46-6 record at Hornet Gym against conference competition. The team went a perfect 10-0 last season and has a 32-2 combined record at home against Big Sky opposition over the last three years (the team’s two losses came to Montana and Cal State Northridge in 1999). The Hornets have won each of their last 15 Big Sky matches at home. Against all competition (including non-conference opponents) over the last five years, the team has combined to go 65-13 in Hornet Gym.

The team is 6-0 in Hornet Gym this season and has completed three-game sweeps in five of those six contests. Sacramento State has not lost a match in Hornet Gym since Oct. 3, 2000, when the team fell in three to Pacific (a span of 13 matches).

Streaking

The Hornets’ season-high seven-match winning streak is the longest the team has had since the 1999 squad ran off nine straight. During the winning streak, Sacramento State has won an amazing 21-consecutive games, which is just three short of the school’s Div. I record of 24, set by the 1995 team. The winning streak began in the Sept. 29 victory over Northern Arizona. In that match, the Lumberjacks won the first two games before the Hornets came back to win the next three. Since that time, Sacramento State has swept six-consecutive opponents and is now 11-1 in three-game matches this season. Amazingly, over the 21-game stretch, the Hornets have only been challenged in one of those games (a 30-28 victory in game two against Weber State).

Over the last seven matches, Sacramento State holds a commanding edge over its opponents in virtually every statistical category, including hitting percentage (.270-.162), kills per game (16.26-12.17), assists per game (14.74-11.30), aces per game (2.04-1.30), digs per game (15.78-14.22) and blocks per game (2.43-2.04).

High Performance Gahr

Despite nursing an injured Achilles last week, senior outside hitter Alison Gahr combined to record perhaps her best week as a Hornet. In two matches, the Salem, Ore., native posted a .536 hitting percentage and per game averages of 3.00 kills and 1.83 digs per game. Gahr had 18 kills and just three errors in 28 attacks. Against Weber State, Gahr recorded 11 kills (the third time she has cracked double figures in kills this season) and a .421 hitting percentage. She followed up that effort against Idaho State with seven kills, a match-high .778 hitting percentage (7-0-9) and seven digs. Gahr, who has missed three matches this season due to injury (two with a knee sprain and one with the Achilles), is currently second on the team in assists (0.86 per game) and third in both hitting percentage (.237) and blocks (0.82 per game).

Taz-Mania

Senior middle hitter Tasman Dwyer continued her torrid stretch last week as she combined for 3.83 kills per game and a .526 hitting percentage. Dwyer, who was named Big Sky Player of the Week last week, has hit at least .300 in six of her last seven matches. During that stretch, the Placerville, Calif., native has combined for a .479 hitting percentage and 3.57 kills per game. The middle hitter is now leading the Big Sky in hitting percentage (.335) and has paced the Hornets in kills in a team-leading 10 matches this season. In addition, Dwyer, who was a unanimous first team all-Big Sky selection in 2000, has recorded double figures in kills a team-leading 14 times.

For the season, Dwyer leads the team in kills (230, 3.33 per game) and is second in blocks (1.01 per game). Earlier this year, she became just the seventh player in Sacramento State history to reach 1,000 career kills, and currently has 1,093.

Additional Hornet Notes

Sacramento State’s quintet of Tasman Dwyer, Kazmiera Imrie, Lisa Beauchene, Jayme Wright and Alison Gahr combined for 109 kills and a .419 hitting percentage last week...Dwyer had 14 kills and a .700 hitting percentage (14-0-20) in the win over Idaho State...Beauchene has hit at least .440 in five of her last six matches...senior Kelly Voeltz (0.37 per game) and sophomore Olivia Thomas (0.36 per game) rank fourth and seventh, respectively, in the Big Sky in service aces...only one opponent (Pacific, .417) has hit above .300 against Sacramento State this season.