Sophomore Olivia Thomas

Sacramento State (16-6 overall, 9-1 Big Sky Conference) enters the week having won nine of its last 10 matches and will look to extend its eight-match conference winning streak. The Hornets play three times on the road, including one non-conference match against third-ranked Stanford (Tuesday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.) and two conference matches against Montana (Friday, Nov. 2, 6:30 p.m.) and Montana State (Saturday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m.). This week will mark the Hornets’ final three regular season road matches of the season as the team closes at home against Eastern Washington (Nov. 9) and Portland State (Nov. 10) at home.

The Hornets have won eight-consecutive Big Sky matches and 24-straight games over that span. The team is currently alone atop the Big Sky standings, two games ahead of Eastern Washington and two-and-a-half games in front of Weber State with four matches to play. Two conference victories coupled with an Eastern Washington loss will ensure the Hornets their fifth-consecutive Big Sky regular season championship. The top six squads in the eight-team conference advance to the Big Sky Tournament (Nov. 15-17) while the first-place team hosts the tourney.

Sacramento State saw its eight-match winning streak come to a halt last week as it fell to 16th-ranked BYU, 3-1, in Hornet Gym. The defeat was the team’s first since losing at Pacific on Sept. 26. The loss to BYU also snapped a 14-match home winning streak. Over the last seven years, the team is now 57-13 in the month of October.

Stanford enters Tuesday’s match with a 18-2 overall record and a No. 3 ranking in the USA Today/AVCA Div. I poll. The Cardinal has won each of their last four matches and are 7-0 at home this season, including victories over 17th-ranked Pacific (last week) and fourth-ranked Arizona. The team has lost just 16 games all season long with its only two defeats coming on the road against top-ranked Long Beach State (3-1) and fifth-ranked USC (3-2). Tuesday’s match will mark the first time the two teams have met since a 3-1 victory by Stanford at Maples Pavilion in 1998. The Cardinal own a 5-0 all-time record over the Hornets.

Montana will enter Friday’s match with a 5-13 overall record and a 2-9 Big Sky record. The Grizzlies have lost seven of their last eight matches, including defeats last week at Idaho State and Weber State. However, Montana is 3-2 at home including a 3-0 victory over Weber State on Sept. 28. Sacramento State has won each of the last three meetings (including a 3-0 victory in Sacramento on Oct. 6) and nine of the last 11 between the two teams. The Hornets own a 9-4 all-time advantage over Montana.

Montana State (15-5, 6-5 Big Sky) hosts Northern Arizona on Friday before welcoming the Hornets to Shroyer Gym on Saturday. After opening the season by winning each of their first 12 matches, the Bobcats have lost five of eight. Montana State is currently in fifth place in the conference standings and is 6-2 at home. The Hornets, who swept the Bobcats in Hornet Gym on Oct. 5, have won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams. Overall, Sacramento State is 14-2 against Montana State.

Head Coach Debby Colberg

For the 26th-straight season, Debby Colberg will control the Hornet sidelines. During her tenure, Colberg has posted a 667-235 record (.739 winning percentage) and has led the team to 12 league titles and 20 postseason berths. Her 667 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 247-81 (.753) 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 went 2-1 last week, defeating Nevada at home, 3-1 (28-30, 30-21, 30-20, 30-19), on Tuesday before losing to 16th-ranked BYU, 3-1 (28-30, 30-18, 30-21, 30-28), in Hornet Gym on Thursday. The team then came back to sweep Northern Arizona, (30-27), 30-22, 30-23), on the road Saturday.

Tuesday, Jayme Wright led all players with 19 kills while Kazmiera Imrie and Tasman Dwyer each chipped in 13 kills to lead the Hornets to the victory over Nevada. Sacramento State hit .344 for the match as four Hornets hit at least .350 comprising of Imrie (.500), Lisa Beauchene (nine kills, .471), Dwyer (.440) and Wright (.350). Nevada was held to just a .128 hitting percentage.

Thursday, four Cougars recorded double figures in kills and the Hornets hit just .143 as BYU fought to a four-game victory. Nina Puikkonen led all players with 21 kills, 18 digs and nine blocks as BYU led the Hornets in virtually every statistical category. Tasman Dywer paced the Hornets with 18 kills, eight blocks and a .400 hitting percentage. After winning game one, Sacramento State was held to hitting percentages of .108, .128 and .056, respectively, in games 2-4.

Saturday, the Hornets dealt Northern Arizona its first home loss of the season, sweeping the Lumberjacks in an hour and a half. Wright led the Hornets with 13 kills (.375, 13-4-24) while Alison Gahr missed her first career triple-double by one assist (11 kills, nine assists, a .364 hitting percentage and a career-high 16 digs). Beauchene finished with seven kills, 18 digs and 35 assists.

Hornets Closing in on Fifth-Straight Big Sky Championship

Sacramento State is closing in on its fifth-consecutive Big Sky Conference regular season championship. The team is currently 9-1 in conference play, two games ahead of Eastern Washington (7-3), two and a half games up on Weber State (7-4) and three up on Northern Arizona (6-4) with four matches to play. Two Sacramento State victories coupled with an Eastern Washington loss will clinch first place and homecourt advantage for the Big Sky Tournament (Nov. 15-17). The Hornets already hold the tiebreaker over both Weber State and Northern Arizona because of head-to-head competition, and have already beaten Eastern Washington in three games earlier this season (the two teams play again on Nov. 9).

The Hornets have hosted the Big Sky Tournament each of the last four years and have come away as the tournament champion three times (every year but 1999). Last season, Sacramento State defeated Montana State in the semifinals and Eastern Washington in the finals to claim the tournament championship and subsequent automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Should the Hornets advance to the NCAA Tournament this season, it would mark the fifth-straight year the team has reached The Dance.

BIG SKY STANDINGS (as of Oct. 29)

Team Big Sky Overall

Sacramento State 9-1 16-6

Eastern Washington 7-3 14-3

Weber State 7-4 11-10

Northern Arizona 6-4 12-6

Montana State 6-5 15-5

Idaho State 4-7 10-13

Montana 2-9 5-13

Portland State 1-9 4-11

Supercharged Hornets

Below are some notes on the success that Sacramento State is enjoying this season:

– The Hornets have won nine of their last 10 matches, including a season-high eight-match winning streak (Sept. 29-Oct. 23). The team’s only loss during that span was a 3-1 defeat at the hands of 16th-ranked BYU.

– The team has won eight-consecutive conference matches and 24-straight games over that span.

– Sacramento State has accounted for three of the last four Big Sky Player of the Week awards (Lisa Beauchene on Oct. 8, Tasman Dwyer on Oct. 15, Jayme Wright on Oct. 22).

– The Hornets’ loss to BYU snapped a streak of 14-consecutive matches in which the team had won at home.

– Sacramento State has hit at least .290 in six of its last eight matches (a combined .281 over that span).

– The Hornets are 12-1 in three-game matches this season.

Beau Knows Volleyball

Sophomore Lisa Beauchene continues to put up solid all-around numbers for a setter. The Auburn, Wash., native has recorded per game averages of 1.96 kills, 11.25 assists, 3.21 digs and 0.66 blocks to go along with a .345 hitting percentage. Beauchene currently has three triple-doubles this season and has narrowly missed five others, including last week’s performance against Nevada (nine kills, 48 assists, 14 digs). Her .345 hitting percentage would rank as the top mark in the Big Sky if she had enough kills to qualify. Among other Big Sky categories, she ranks second in assists and fifth in digs. Amazingly, she has recorded double figures in digs 13 times, but has still been able to average 11.25 assists per game. In her last nine matches, Beauchene is averaging 2.41 kills, 12.38 assists and 0.76 blocks per game to go along with a .414 hitting percentage.

Taz-Mania

As usual, senior middle hitter Tasman Dwyer has been the team’s go-to player. A unanimous first team all-Big Sky selection last year, Dwyer currently leads the conference in hitting percentage (.340). In addition, she paces the team in kills (268, 3.35 per game) and is second in blocks (89, 1.11 per game). Among Big Sky leaders, Dwyer is 10th and eighth, respectively in those categories. She has recorded double figures in kills in 11 of her last 14 matches and has hit at least .300 in six of her last seven (a .456 hitting percentage over that span). In addition, the Hornets are 12-2 when Dwyer hits at least .300. Earlier this year, she became just the seventh player in Sacramento State history to reach 1,000 career kills, and currently has 1,313.

Conference Dominance

Since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1996, Sacramento State has posted the best conference winning percentage of the league’s eight teams. The Hornets are 74-16 (.822), followed by Eastern Washington (65-25) with the second best winning percentage. Northern Arizona (55-35) and Montana State (55-36) are the other schools with winning league records. Weber State (37-54), Montana (35-56), Idaho State (23-68) and Portland State (13-77) round out the field.

Road Warriors

After finishing 5-8 on the road last season, Sacramento State is off to a 5-3 start in 2001. The Hornets have swept Eastern Washington in Cheney, Wash., and Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Ariz. Prior to this season, the team hadn’t beaten EWU on the road in three years nor had it beaten NAU on the road in two years. The Hornets’ sweep in Cheney marked the Eagles’ second loss in their last 32 matches at home and it was the first time the team had been swept at Reese Court since Oct. 11, 1996. NAU had been 8-0 at home this season and had won 12-straight matches at Rolle Activity Center prior to the loss.

Additionally, the Hornets are 4-1 away from home against Big Sky competition after finishing 4-4 last season. The team has won three-straight Big Sky matches on the road after losing to Weber State, 3-1, on Sept. 22. Sacramento State also has a streak of nine-consecutive games won on the road.

Wright in Control

Through 16 matches, junior outside hitter Jayme Wright was hitting just .167 and had failed to pick up double figures in kills in four of her last five matches. Since that time, however, the Pleasanton, Calif., native has responded with arguably the best stretch of her three-year career at Sacramento State. During her last six matches, Wright has recorded 4.15 kills and 3.60 digs per game to go along with a .274 hitting percentage. Over this span, she has increased her hitting percentage 30 points to its current mark of .197 and is now first on the team and third in the Big Sky with 3.34 digs per game. In conference matches, she is averaging 4.00 digs per game, which is far and away the top mark in the Big Sky. She has led the team in digs in six of the last eight matches and kills in four of the last six matches.

Additional Notes

Sacramento State leads the conference in digs (16.41 per game) and has held the opposition to a .162 hitting percentage...the Hornets have allowed just one opponent to hit above .260 all season long (Pacific hit .417 on Sept. 26)...over her last nine matches, sophomore middle hitter Kazmiera Imrie is averaging 3.07 kills and 2.00 digs and 1.17 blocks per game...senior Kelly Voeltz (0.35 per game) and sophomore Olivia Thomas (0.34) rank sixth and seventh, respectively in the Big Sky in service aces.