Saturday (Nov. 20-22), will take place on No. 1 seed Eastern Washington''s home floor (Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.). Sacramento State has now finished at least second in the Big Sky every year since joining the conference in 1996 (including five-consecutive regular-season championships from 1997-01). Eastern Washington is hosting the Big Sky Tournament for the second-consecutive season after finishing the year with a 13-1 conference record. Last season, Sacramento State defeated the Eagles in the Big Sky Tournament championship match.

Sacramento State has won the Big Sky regular season and/or tournament championship each of the last six seasons. The team won the Big Sky Tournament championship in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001. The Hornets have advanced to the tournament championship match every year except 1999, when the team fell to Cal State Northridge in the semifinals.

After beginning the season with a 5-6 record, the Hornets have won 16 of their last 21 matches. The team has won six-consecutive Big Sky matches and has lost just one game during that span. The Hornets'' 12-2 conference record tied for the team''s second-best mark since joining the Big Sky (the 1998 squad went 15-1 while the 2001 team finished 12-2).

In this year''s tournament, Eastern Washington (21-7, 13-1) will receive a first-round bye. Also competing in the single-elimination tournament will be No. 3-seed Idaho State (19-8, 9-5), No. 4 Montana State (17-10, 7-7), No. 5 Northern Arizona (13-14, 7-7) and No. 6 Portland State (14-13, 3-11).

On Thursday, Idaho State and Portland State will square off at 6 p.m., while Montana State and Northern Arizona play each other at 8 p.m. In the semifinals on Friday, Sacramento State will face the highest remaining seed (Idaho State, Montana State or Northern Arizona) at 6 p.m., while Eastern Washington will take on the lowest remaining seed at 8 p.m. The winner of the two semifinal matches will play for the conference championship on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Big Sky Tournament champion receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, which is set to begin on Dec. 4. The Hornets have reached the NCAA Tournament five times in the last six years (1997-00, 2002). The NCAA has taken just one team from the Big Sky in 11 of the last 12 years, making the automatic berth that much more important. Sacramento State was the only team from the Big Sky to appear in last year''s NCAA Tournament, despite Eastern Washington finishing with a 29-2 overall record and a No. 24 ranking in the final AVCA/USA Today top 25 poll. Three Big Sky teams appeared in the 1999 NCAA Tournament comprising Northern Arizona, Sacramento State and Eastern Washington.

For those making the trip to Cheney from Sacramento, tickets are only being sold as all-session passes. The passes are $16 for reserved seating regardless of age. General admission passes for adults are $12 and juniors (ages 6-18) are $6.

Head Coach Debby Colberg

For the 28th-straight season, Debby Colberg has controlled the Hornet sidelines. During her tenure, Colberg has posted a 716-260 record (.734 winning percentage) and has led the team to 14 league titles and 23 postseason berths. Her 716 wins rank seventh on the all-time NCAA list (four wins behind UC Santa Barbara''s Kathy Gregory) among active coaches with at least five years of Div. I experience. In 2002, Colberg was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the fifth time in six seasons (1997-98, 2000-02). During her tenure, she has been honored as coach of the year 12 times, including Region Coach of the Year on four occasions. She has led the Hornets to the NCAA Tournament five of the last six years (1997-00, 2002) and has posted 23 career 20-win seasons.

Colberg came to Sacramento State in 1976 and finished 9-8 in her first season. The long coaching sojourn has taken Colberg through the ranks, from AIAW play in the late 1970s, through Division II and now Division I. In 27 years, she has coached just two losing squads and her teams have averaged 25.7 wins per season. The 1989 American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year and the coach with the best winning percentage in any sport at Sacramento State, 2003 marks Colberg’s 13th season as a Division I coach. During that time, she has led Sacramento State to winning seasons in 11 of those 12 Division I years.

She also had the added responsibility of serving as Sacramento State’s athletics director from February of 1999 until May of 2002.

Sacramento State''s Big Sky Tournament History

1996 – Semifinals: defeated Montana, 3-2. Finals: lost to Cal State Northridge, 3-2.

1997 – Semifinals: defeated Montana State, 3-0. Finals: defeated Northern Arizona, 3-0.

1998 – Semifinals: defeated Northern Arizona, 3-0. Finals: defeated Eastern Washington, 3-0.

1999 – Semifinals: lost to Cal State Northridge, 3-2.

2000 – Semifinals: defeated Montana State, 3-2. Finals: defeated Eastern Washington, 3-0.

2001 – Semifinals: defeated Montana State, 3-0. Finals: lost to Eastern Washington, 3-1.

2002 – Semifinals: defeated Montana State, 3-2. Finals: defeated Eastern Washington, 3-1.

Is There A Pattern Here?

If the last three years of the Big Sky Tournament are any indication, the Hornets will face Montana State in the semifinals and Eastern Washington in the finals. The Hornets have defeated Montana State each of the last three years in the semifinal round, only to face Eastern Washington in the finals each time. In fact, Sacramento State is 4-0 against Montana State in the Big Sky Tournament, including another semifinal victory over the Bobcats in 1997. The Hornets are 3-1 against Eastern Washington, with the two teams matching up four times in the tournament championship match. Sacramento State defeated the Eagles in 1998, 2000 and 2002, while EWU defeated the Hornets in 2001.

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 100-22 (.820), followed by Eastern Washington (93-29), Montana State (74-48) and Northern Arizona (71-51) as the schools with winning league records. Weber State (51-71), Montana (38-84), Idaho State (36-86) and Portland State (20-102) round out the rest of the field. Sacramento State has never lost more than four conference matches in a season and currently has a 33-match winning streak against Big Sky competition inside the Hornets Nest.

Tradition of Excellence

This past week, Sacramento State extend its streak of consecutive 20-win seasons to nine as the team''s last sub-20 win year came in 1994 (18-12). Since 1979, the Hornets have recorded at least 20 wins in all but two seasons (the team was 13-19 in its first year of Div. I play in 1991). Maybe even more impressive is the fact that Sacramento State has not lost more than 12 matches since going 21-16 in 1992. Moreover, the Hornets have not lost more than three matches in a row since dropping four straight during the 1992 season.

Dominating Defense

Sacramento State has now held six of its last seven opponents to hitting percentages below .200 as the team limited Weber State and Idaho State to .101 and .088 marks, respectively, last week. The Hornets are holding the opposition to a .184 hitting percentage while ranking first in the Big Sky and 25th in the nation with 17.86 digs per game. Sacramento State is a perfect 18-0 when holding opponents to hitting percentage below .200. Only one opponent (Eastern Washington – .333) has hit above .300 against Sacramento State this season and five opponents have been held to hitting percentages below .100, including a .050 mark by Montana State on Oct. 2 in Sacramento.

Beauchene Gets Fifth Big Sky Honor

Senior setter Lisa Beauchene was named Big Sky co-Player of the Week after leading the Hornets to a 2-1 record and posting per game averages of 2.22 kills, 11.56 assists, 3.22 digs and 1.11 blocks to go along with a .349 hitting percentage. The Auburn, Wash., native, who shared this week’s award with Eastern Washington’s Keva Sonderen, has now been named the Big Sky''s top weekly player five times this season (Sept. 8, Sept. 15, Oct. 20, Nov. 3, Nov. 17).

Beauchene’s five conference player of the week awards ties a Big Sky record, set in 1998 by Eastern Washington’s Kim Exner. She has now received the honor nine times during her career (twice as a sophomore and twice as a junior).

Beauchene recently became the first player in Sacramento State history to rank among the school’s top 10 career list in kills, digs, assists, hitting percentage, service aces and blocks. Beauchene is currently first all-time in hitting percentage (.351), third in assists (5,011), seventh in digs (1,377) and aces (107), and 10th in blocks (326) and kills (879).

Sacramento State has now received a Big Sky-record eight player of the week awards this season as senior Kazmiera Imrie (Oct. 6, Nov. 10) and junior Emily Wilson (Sept. 22) were also honored.

Hornet Notables

Including 20 kills in three games at Pacific, junior Sandra Bandimere is averaging 5.67 kills per game over her last four matches. The outside hitter has led or shared the team lead in kills in eight of the last nine matches and 22 matches overall this season...the Hornets swept Idaho State on Saturday despite freshmen Kristin Lutes and Shannon Roland, and junior Emily Wilson missing the match with the flu...Wilson had a streak of eight-consecutive matches with at least one service aces come to a close at Weber State...senior right-side hitter Kazmiera Imrie has hit at least .400 in six of the last 11 contests...co-captains Imrie and Lisa Beauchene are now the only Hornets to start all 32 matches this year...the Hornets are 20-1 when winning the first game of a match and 17-0 when holding a 2-0 lead...sophomore middle hitter Shannon Arts tallied nine kills and a career-high .533 hitting percentage (9-1-15) at Weber State.