The Hornets are 7-1 at home this season, including 5-0 against conference competition. The team''s only loss in Hornet Gym came to Pacific on Oct. 1. After this week, Sacramento State has just two matches remaining on the schedule as the team travels to Eastern Washington (Nov. 15) and Portland State (Nov. 16). The Hornets, who are seeking their sixth-consecutive Big Sky regular season championship, are currently one game behind first-place Eastern Washington (9-1) in the conference standings. Sacramento State is attempting to become the first team in conference history to win six-consecutive regular season championships.

Saint Mary''s will enter Tuesday''s contest with a 6-15 overall record. The Gaels, who lost to Santa Clara and defeated San Francisco at home last week, have lost nine of their last 11 matches. Saint Mary''s is 2-7 on the road and has not defeated Sacramento State in Hornet Gym since 1990 (a span of eight matches). Overall, the Hornets are 24-4 all-time against the Gaels and have won 17 of the past 18 meetings between the two teams.

Montana will enter Thursday''s match with a 7-15 overall record and a 1-10 mark in the Big Sky. The Grizzlies, who are last in the conference standings, have lost 10 in a row. However, six of the 10 losses during the streak have come in five games, including a narrow loss to the Hornets at home on Oct. 12 (Sacramento State won the fifth game, 18-16). Sacramento State owns a 12-4 all-time mark against Montana and has won the last six meetings. The Grizzlies were the last Big Sky team to defeat Sacramento State in Hornet Gym during the regular season (a 3-2 win on Oct. 14, 1999).

Montana State enters the week with an 18-8 overall record and an 8-3 mark in the Big Sky. The Bobcats have won three in a row (including home victories over Weber State and Idaho State last week) and six of their last seven. Montana State defeated the Hornets, 3-0, in Bozeman, Mont., earlier this season. The Bobcats are 6-4 on the road this year and have not won in Hornet Gym since 1997. Sacramento State owns a 16-4 all-time record against Montana State.

A Look At Last Week

The Hornets split two matches last week, falling to 12th-ranked Santa Clara on the road (22-30, 30-17, 30-27, 30-21) and beating Northern Arizona at home (30-26, 20-30, 30-26, 26-30, 15-13). Sacramento State, who lost for just the second time this season after winning the first game of a match, has now lost four in a row to the Broncos over the last four years. The match against Northern Arizona was the longest of the season for the Hornets (2:18) as the team committed a season-high 35 attack errors, but still found a way to win.

Head Coach Debby Colberg

For the 27th-straight season, Debby Colberg will control the Hornet sidelines. During her tenure, Colberg has posted a 689-247 record (.736 winning percentage) and has led the team to 13 league titles and 21 postseason berths. Her 689 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. She is just 11 wins shy of 700 for her career, a feat only five active Div. I coaches have achieved.

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 269-129 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.

Tie-Breaker Scenarios For Big Sky Championship

Although Sacramento State (8-2) is one game behind front-running Eastern Washington (9-1) in the conference standings, the Hornets technically control their own destiny for the conference regular season championship and the right to host the Big Sky Tournament (Nov. 21-23). Should the two teams finish the regular season tied atop the conference standings, the tiebreaker order for the Big Sky championship are as follows: 1) Results of head-to-head competitions between the two teams; 2) Percentage of total games won in matches between the two teams; 3) Scoring margin of games between the two teams; 4) Results of competition against the remaining conference teams in ascending order (1,2,3,4,etc.).

By virtue of the Hornets'' 3-0 victory over Eastern Washington earlier this season, Sacramento State currently owns the tiebreaker over the Eagles. If Sacramento State wins its final four Big Sky contests (including a match at Eastern Washington on Nov. 15) of the season, the Hornets would be crowned conference champions and host the tournament. Eastern Washington, which moved up one spot to No. 15 in the USA Today/AVCA top 25 poll this week, is now 24-1 with its only loss of the season coming to Sacramento State.

Home Dominance

Sacramento State, which is currently 7-1 in Hornet Gym this season, is now 87-17 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 47-5 against Big Sky competition at home since joining the conference in 1996. Sacramento State has won 24-consecutive regular-season matches against conference competition inside Hornet Gym and hasn''t lost since Oct. 14, 1999 (3-2 loss to Montana). Inside Hornet Gym, Sacramento State is a combined 23-4 all-time against Saint Mary''s (10-1), Montana State (9-1) and Montana (4-2).

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 85-19 (.817), followed by Eastern Washington (76-28), Montana State (65-40) and Northern Arizona (63-41) as the schools with winning league records. Weber State (46-59), Montana (36-69), Idaho State (27-78) and Portland State (15-89) round out the rest of the field.

First Game Is The Charm

Despite losing to Santa Clara last week, Sacramento State is still 16-2 when winning the first game of a match this season. Besides Santa Clara, the team''s only other 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.

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 nine times over the last 14 matches (including a career-high 27 at Montana on Oct. 12) and is averaging 3.94 kills per game over that span. She has recorded double figures in kills in 17 of her last 20 matches after doing so just once during the first seven matches of the year. Her 27 kills are a conference season high and were the most by a Hornet since Sarah Chlebana had 30 at Montana during the 2000 season. Bandimere, who has the best vertical leap on the team, is currently first on the team and ninth in the Big Sky Conference with 3.39 kills per game. In addition, she has raised her hitting percentage 121 points from last season to its current mark of .230.

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, sophomore middle hitter Emily Wilson (second on the team and sixth in the Big Sky with 1.04 blocks per game), freshman libero Mallory Hook (third on the team with 2.41 digs per game) and freshman middle hitter Shannon Arts (averaging 1.18 blocks per game over her last six matches).

The Wright Way

Senior outside hitter Jayme Wright has recorded double-doubles (kills and digs) in three-straight matches and five of the last six overall. The Pleasanton, Calif., native tallied a season-high 21 kills to go along with 16 digs in Friday''s win over Northern Arizona. She has recorded double figures in digs in all but nine matches this season and currently leads the team and is sixth in the Big Sky Conference with 3.44 digs per game. Wright, who has started 77-consecutive matches over the last three years, has also recorded double figures in kills in all but 10 matches. Over her last six contests, she is averaging 4.00 kills per game. For her career, Wright now has 39 career double-doubles.

Other Notables

Junior Ali Mathewson had a career-high 18 digs against NAU...junior Lisa Beauchene hit -.056 against Northern Arizona, marking just the third time all season the setter has hit below .200...the Hornets have allowed four of the last five opponents to hit above .200 after just six teams did it through the first 22 matches.