Head Coach Debby Colberg

This week, the Hornets travel to the Bay Area for a non-conference match against 12th-ranked Santa Clara on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. Sacramento State then returns to Big Sky play on Friday, Nov. 1, as the team hosts Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. in Hornet Gym. The match against Santa Clara is the first of just two non-conference contests left on the schedule – the Hornets host Saint Mary''s on Nov. 5.

The Northern Arizona contest is the first of a four-match homestand that concludes on Nov. 9 against Montana State (Senior Night). The Hornets have just seven regular-season matches remaining on the schedule with the Big Sky Tournament beginning on Nov. 21. The top six teams in the eight-member conference advance to the tournament. The regular season champion hosts the single-elimination tournament. Hornet Gym has served as the host facility each of the last five years.

Santa Clara will enter Tuesday''s match with a 17-3 overall record and a No. 12 ranking in the USA Today/AVCA top 25. The Broncos have won eight of their last nine with the only loss during that span coming to 10th-ranked Pepperdine. The team is 5-1 at home including a 3-0 victory over San Francisco last week. Sacramento State has lost each of the three meetings (since 1999) against the Broncos, but still owns a 10-9 all-time record against Santa Clara. The Broncos defeated the Hornets twice during the 2000 season. Should the Hornets defeat Santa Clara on Tuesday, it would mark the highest-ranked Div. I opponent the team has ever beaten (the team knocked off then-No. 13 Pacific at home in 1997).

Northern Arizona will enter Friday''s match with an 8-13 overall record and a 4-5 mark in the Big Sky. The Lumberjacks are currently fifth in the conference after losing on the road to both Idaho State and Weber State last week. Sacramento State defeated NAU, 3-1, in Flagstaff, Ariz., earlier in the season and has won each of the last three meetings between the two teams. The Lumberjacks have lost four of their last five matches and are 2-6 on the road this season. Northern Arizona is under the direction of first-year head coach Michelle Hansen.

A Look At Last Week

The Hornets split two road matches last week, falling to Weber State (32-30, 30-12, 30-17) on Friday before defeating Idaho State (30-23, 30-20, 30-21) on Saturday. Sacramento State has now lost to Weber State in Ogden, Utah, each of the last three years. The Hornets had two game points in the first frame at Weber State, but could not pull the game out. The Wildcats are now 9-2 at home this season, including 5-0 against conference competition. Sacramento State has owned Idaho State over the last six years, going 12-0 against the Bengals during that span.

Head Coach Debby Colberg

For the 27th-straight season, Debby Colberg will control the Hornet sidelines. During her tenure, Colberg has posted a 688-246 record (.737 winning percentage) and has led the team to 13 league titles and 21 postseason berths. Her 688 wins ranks seventh on the all-time NCAA list among coaches with at least five years of Div. I experience. Last season, Colberg was named Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth time in the last five years. During her tenure, she has been honored as coach of the year seven times and Region Coach of the Year on four occasions.

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 25.8 wins per year.

The Hornets have posted a 268-128 record since moving to Div. I in 1991. In addition to leading the Hornets to four NCAA Tournament appearances over the last five years, she also had the added responsibility of serving as the school’s athletic director from February of 1999 until June of 2002.

Home Dominance

Sacramento State, which is currently 6-1 in Hornet Gym this season, is now 86-17 at home since 1995. The team has lost just five times in the last three years at home, and four of those five losses came against ranked opponents (Pacific twice, Santa Clara and BYU).

In regular season play, the team is also 46-5 against Big Sky competition at home since joining the conference in 1996. Sacramento State has won 23-consecutive regular season matches against conference competition inside Hornet Gym and hasn''t lost since Oct. 14, 1999 (3-2 loss to Montana). The Hornets have never lost to Northern Arizona inside Hornet Gym, as the team is 8-0 against the Lumberjacks at home.

First Game Is The Charm

With last week''s three-game victory over Idaho State, Sacramento State is now 15-1 when winning the first game of a match this season. The team''s only defeat came in Reno, Nev., where the Hornets lost in five to Cal State Northridge. Conversely, when Sacramento State drops the first game, the team''s record in those matches is 2-7.

Conference Dominance

Since joining the Big Sky in 1996, Sacramento State has posted the best conference winning percentage of the league’s eight teams. The Hornets are 84-19 (.816), followed by Eastern Washington (75-28), Northern Arizona (63-40) and Montana State (63-40) as the schools with winning league records. Weber State (45-58), Montana (36-67), Idaho State (26-77) and Portland State (15-88) round out the rest of the field.

Leaping To New Heights

One year after competing in a little over half of the Hornets'' matches, sophomore outside hitter Sandra Bandimere has become Sacramento State''s go-to player. The Roseville, Calif., native has led or shared the team lead in kills in nine of the last 12 matches (including a career-high 27 at Montana on Oct. 12) and is averaging 4.16 kills per game over that span. This past week, she had her streak of consecutive matches with double-figure kills snapped at 10 after tallying six at Weber State. Overall, she has recorded double figures in kills in 15 of her last 18 matches after doing so just once during the first seven matches of the year. Her 27 kills were a conference season high and were the most by a Hornet since Sarah Chlebana had 30 at Montana during the 2000 season.

During the Hornets'' last 18 matches, Bandimere has more kills (253) than anyone on the team. One month ago, she overtook senior Jayme Wright for the team lead in kills and is now ninth in the Big Sky, averaging 3.44 per game. Against conference competition, Bandimere ranks fifth in the Big Sky with 4.09 kills per game.

Bandimere, who has the best vertical leap on the team, is hitting .243 overall after recording a .109 hitting percentage last season. She has hit at least .300 in three of her last five matches, including a season-high .433 mark (16-3-3-) against 16th-ranked Eastern Washington.

The Streak is Broken

Sacramento State had gone the entire season without allowing an opponent to hit above .300 until Weber State tallied a .336 hitting percentage last Friday. Not only that, but Weber State also became just the eighth opponent to hit above .200 against the Hornets this season. Traditionally a defense and ball control-oriented team, Sacramento State is easily leading the Big Sky Conference in digs (17.09 per game) and is just .07 digs per game away from ranking among the top 30 Div. I teams in the nation.

Sacramento State is badly outhitting its opponents (.210-.165) and is averaging 1.11 more kills per game than its opponents. Senior outside hitter Jayme Wright, who paced the Hornets in digs last season, is again leading the team and currently ranks sixth in the Big Sky with 3.39 digs per game.

Youth Is Served

Before the season began, head coach Debby Colberg stressed that this year could be a rebuilding one with seven underclassmen on the roster, and only three seniors. Now that the Hornets are second in the Big Sky and sit just one game back of first place, Colberg may have underestimated her team a bit. The youngsters have stepped up huge of late, including the team''s four underclassmen starters: Sophomore outside hitter Sandra Bandimere (leading the team and ninth in the Big Sky with 3.44 kills per game), sophomore middle hitter Emily Wilson (averaging 2.08 kills per game and a .305 hitting percentage over her last seven matches), freshman libero Mallory Hook (third on the team with 2.32 digs per game) and freshman middle hitter Shannon Arts (averaging 1.23 blocks per game over her last four matches).

Other Notables

Junior setter Lisa Beauchene, who set the Sacramento State single-season Div. I record last season with a .369 hitting percentage, is currently 15th in the nation and first in the Big Sky Conference with a .385 mark. The Auburn, Wash., native has already been named conference player of the week twice this season and has three triple-doubles (kills, assists, digs). Not only does the setter lead the team in hitting percentage and assists (10.57 per game), she''s also second on the squad in digs (2.93 per game), and fourth in kills (1.99 per game), attacks (4.2 per game) and blocks (0.70 per game)...against Weber State, not one Hornet recorded double figures in kills for just the second time this season (Nevada)...head coach Debby Colberg has used the same starting lineup each of the last five matches (Sandra Bandimere, Kazmiera Imrie, Jayme Wright, Shannon Arts, Lisa Beauchene and Emily Wilson). The current group is the eighth different lineup Colberg has used this season...senior outside hitter Jayme Wright’s .293 hitting percentage against Idaho State was her highest mark since hitting .407 against Sam Houston State on Aug. 31. Wright also tallied her 10th double-double of the season last Saturday against Idaho State (13 kills, 11 digs) and now has 37 for her career...Sacramento State will face a top 15 opponent for the second time in three weeks when it travels to 12th-ranked Santa Clara (the team faced 15th-ranked Eastern Washington on Oct. 19)...Sacramento State is second in the Big Sky in kills (15.17 per game) and third in blocks (2.56 per game)...Colberg is just 12 wins shy of 700 for her career, a feat only five active Div. I coaches have achieved.