The Sacramento State volleyball team will compete in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last six years this week. The Hornets, who reached NCAA postseason play four-straight years (1997-2000), received an automatic berth into the tourney after winning the Big Sky Tournament on Nov. 23. The team will enter the NCAA''s with a 24-10 overall record, including a 7-1 mark over its last eight matches. Sacramento State has won the Big Sky regular-season championship (1997-01) and/or the Big Sky Tournament championship (1997-98, 2000, 2002) each of the last six years.

The Hornets will face defending national-champion and host Stanford in the first round on Friday, Dec. 6, at approximately 7:30 p.m. Nevada and Pacific will square off at 5 p.m. on Friday with the winner of that match facing the Sacramento State/Stanford winner on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. All matches will take place in Maples Pavilion on the Stanford campus.

The Cardinal (27-4) are currently ranked fourth in the USA Today/AVCA top 25 poll and received the No. 2 seed in the 64-team tournament. The top 16 teams in the tournament were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. The top four seeds were USC (West Region), Stanford (Pacific Region), Nebraska (Central Region) and Northern Iowa (East Region).

Sacramento State is the only team from the Big Sky Conference to make the NCAA Tournament as Eastern Washington was snubbed despite being ranked 18th in the nation and finishing the regular season with a 29-2 overall record (both losses coming to the Hornets).

Pacific enters the tournament with an 18-12 overall record while Nevada is currently 22-9. Sacramento State lost, 3-0, to both Pacific and Nevada earlier this season. The Hornets lost at Nevada on Sept. 13 and lost at home to Pacific on Oct. 1. Sacramento State and Stanford squared off last season at Maples Pavilion with the Cardinal defeating the Hornets, 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 38-36).

Sacramento State faced a total of seven opponents that made the NCAA Tournament this season, posting a 2-5 record against those teams. That included victories over Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Temple, and losses to San Diego, Santa Clara, Fresno State, Pacific and Nevada.

Hornet Tournament History

This season marks Sacramento State''s fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six years. The Hornets have gone as far as the second round of the tournament (1998), but were defeated in the first round in 1997, 1999 and 2000.

Sacramento State made its first appearance in the NCAA Div. I Tournament in 1997 when it lost to Pacific, 3-1, in the first round at the University of Washington. In 1998, the Hornets defeated Houston, 3-0, in the first round before dropping their second-round match to host Pacific, 3-0. In 1999, the Hornets lost their first-round match to Minnesota, 3-0, in Los Angeles. The 2000 team lost in the first round to host Santa Clara, 3-0, in San Jose, Calif.

Head Coach Debby Colberg

For the 27th-straight season, Debby Colberg controls the Hornet sidelines. During her tenure, Colberg has posted a 695-248 record (.737 winning percentage) and has led the team to 14 league titles and 22 postseason berths. Her 695 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 five wins shy of 700 for her career, a feat only five active Div. I coaches have achieved (UC Santa Barbara''s Kathy Gregory currently has 699 wins).

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 275-130 record (.679 winning percentage) since moving to Div. I in 1991. In addition to leading the Hornets to five NCAA Tournament appearances over the last six years, she also had the added responsibility of serving as the school’s athletic director from February of 1999 until June of 2002.

Big Sky Tournament Recap

Sacramento State was crowned Big Sky Tournament champions for the fourth time in six years with a 3-1 (30-25, 30-26, 26-30, 30-27) victory over host and then 15th-ranked Eastern Washington on Nov. 23. The Hornets, who received a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in the tournament, defeated Montana State, 3-2 (30-25, 30-24, 28-30, 30-32, 15-8), in the semifinals.

Junior setter Lisa Beauchene, who was a unanimous first team all-Big Sky selection, was named the tournament MVP after posting triple-doubles in both matches. Beauchene finished with 11 kills, 60 assists, 17 digs and a .375 hitting percentage against Montana State, and 13 kills, 44 assists, 14 digs and a .600 hitting percentage against Eastern Washington.

Outside hitters Sandra Bandimere and Jayme Wright were also named to the all-tournament team as the tandem combined for 70 kills (46.4 percent of the Hornets'' offense) over the two matches. Bandimere, a sophomore from Roseville, Calif., had 16 kills against Montana State and her third double-double of the season (10 digs and a team-best 17 kills) against Eastern Washington. Wright posted double-doubles in both matches (19 digs and a team-best 23 kills against MSU; 14 kills and 11 digs against EWU).

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 88-20 (.815), followed by Eastern Washington (80-28), Montana State (67-41) and Northern Arizona (64-44) as the schools with winning league records. Weber State (48-60), Montana (36-72), Idaho State (27-81) and Portland State (17-91) round out the rest of the field.

Hornets On The Defensive

Traditionally a defensive-oriented team, Sacramento State is doing nothing to disprove that theory again this season. The Hornets are currently averaging a Big Sky-best 17.43 digs per game. The next closest team (Eastern Washington) is averaging 17.01 digs per game. Sacramento State has been among the top 30 in the nation in digs for the majority of the season and is currently 0.23 digs per game shy of ranking in the top 30 (Louisville is 30th with an average of 17.66 digs per game).

In addition, the team has allowed just one opponent to hit above .300 all season (Weber State hit .336 on Oct. 25) and only 12 teams have managed a hitting percentage above .200. In fact, the opposition is hitting just .174, 38 points lower than Sacramento State''s offensive output of .212.

First Game Is The Charm

Sacramento State is currently 22-2 when winning the first game of a match. The team''s only losses when winning the first game took place at 12th-ranked Santa Clara, and in Reno, Nev., where the Hornets fell in five to Cal State Northridge. Conversely, when Sacramento State drops the first game, the team''s record in those matches is 2-8.

Big Sky Honors

Sacramento State placed four players on the Big Sky all-conference team. Among them were junior setter Lisa Beauchene (selected as a unanimous first team choice for the second-straight year), senior outside hitter Jayme Wright (second team for the second-straight year), junior middle hitter Kazmiera Imrie (second team) and sophomore outside hitter Sandra Bandimere (honorable mention).

Among team leaders, Beauchene is first in hitting percentage (.373) and assists (10.80 per game), second in digs (3.02 per game), tied for third in aces (0.20 per game), and fourth in kills (1.98 per game), total attacks (4.28 per game) and blocks (0.72 per game). Her hitting percentage is the best mark in the Big Sky and ranks 21st in the nation. Beauchene, who has five triple-doubles this season and has started a team-best 95-consecutive contests, hit at least .300 in all but 10 matches while tallying double digits in digs 19 times.

Wright currently leads the team in both kills (3.44 per game) and digs (3.42 per game) as she ranks seventh in the Big Sky in both categories. She became the eighth player in Sacramento State history to surpass the 1,000-kill plateau earlier this year and currently has 1,252 career kills and 1,307 career digs. Those numbers rank her sixth and ninth, respectively, in school history. Wright, who has 16 double-doubles this season and 43 for her career, has started 85-consecutive contests.

Imrie, who was an honorable mention all-Big Sky selection last year, is one of two Hornets this season to start all 34 matches and play in all 123 games (Beauchene). Imrie, who has played at both middle hitter and right-side hitter, is currently averaging 2.77 kills, 1.69 digs and 1.08 blocks per game. Her 133 total blocks is tops on the team and seventh in the Big Sky. Among team leaders, Imrie is also second in hitting percentage (.283) and third in kills and total attacks (806). She has started in 63-consecutive matches over the last two years.

Bandimere received all-conference honors for the first time in her career and leads the Hornets with 419 kills. Bandimere, who has the best vertical leap on the team (28 inches), has raised her hitting percentage 115 points from her freshman season and is currently hitting .224. The sophomore has tallied double figures in kills in 22 of the last 25 matches and is averaging 3.73 kills per game over that span.

Hornet Notables

Sacramento State made the NCAA Tournament despite what head coach Debby Colberg has called a "rebuilding year". The team is currently starting four underclassmen (freshmen Mallory Hook and Shannon Arts, and sophomores Sandra Bandimere and Emily Wilson)...the Hornets have started four different players at right-side hitter this season (Loretta Coffman, Natalie Melcher, Stephanie Gamst and Kazmiera Imrie). Imrie has started each of the last 14 matches on the right side...the Hornets are 8-0 when freshman libero Mallory Hook tallies at least 14 digs...the team is also 7-1 when junior outside hitter Ali Mathewson has at least 10 digs...Sacramento State is 11-2 when Emily Wilson records at least five blocks. Wilson is first on the Hornets and third in the Big Sky with 1.16 blocks per game...Bandimere (419 kills) and Wright (409 kills) have combined for 43.9 percent of the Hornets'' offense this season (1,888 kills).