Senior outside hitter Atlee Hubbard, and junior middle hitters Lindsay Haupt and Michelle Franz each received first team all-conference honors, the most first team selections Sacramento State has received since joining the league in 1996. In fact, Hornet players made up three of the Big Sky’s six first team selections. Senior Kristin Lutes was named second team all-conference and received Big Sky Libero of the Year honors for the third time of her career. She becomes the first volleyball player in Big Sky history to earn an individual award three times.

Despite hitting .335 with 3.06 kills and 1.47 blocks per game, Haupt did not earn Big Sky MVP honors for the second straight year as Portland State’s senior outside hitter Jessica Brodie earned the distinction. Northern Arizona’s libero Brittany Stower earned the league’s top newcomer award, and Portland State’s Dominique Fradella grabbed the outstanding freshman award.

Haupt, who earned first team all-conference honors for the second straight season, leads the Big Sky in hitting percentage (.335) and ranks second in the league and 29th in the nation with 1.47 blocks per game. Last season, the Etna, Calif., native became the first player in Big Sky history to earn MVP honors as an underclassman, and she dominated the conference again this season. Against league opposition, she raised her hitting percentage to .375 to go along with 3.20 kills per game. A two-time Big Sky Player of the Week award winner this season, Haupt has hit at least .348 in 15 of her last 16 matches, and has posted double figures in kills in 22 matches.

Hubbard also earned first team honors for the second-consecutive year, and currently leads the Big Sky with 20 double-doubles (double figures in kills and digs). She is fourth in the league in both kills (4.04) and points (4.69) per game. The Menlo Park, Calif., native has posted double figures in kills in a career-high 14 straight matches. She has at least 10 kills in all but four matches this year, and that includes a career-high 27 this past Saturday at Northern Colorado. The third-year Hornet (after transferring from Rhode Island prior to her sophomore season) currently has Sacramento State career totals of 1,233 kills and 1,179 digs. She is now 10th all-time in career kills at Sacramento State, 25 shy of breaking into the ninth spot.

Despite battling shin splints for more than a month, Franz has been the catalyst for a Hornet defense which currently ranks second in the nation in blocks. Franz, who was the Big Sky’s Newcomer of the Year last season, is first in the conference and third in the nation with 1.85 blocks per game. A three-time Big Sky Player of the Week award winner, Franz has at least five blocks in 24 matches this season, including five contests with double figures in blocks. Equally impressive on offense, the Carmichael, Calif., native is second in the Big Sky with a .331 hitting percentage and is averaging 2.39 kills per game.

Lutes has established herself as one of the best defensive players in both Sacramento State and Big Sky history, as the fourth-year senior currently has 2,302 career digs, the most in conference history. In addition, she just broke the conference single-season record for digs (715), surpassing a mark she set last season (707). The Kent, Wash., native is currently eighth in the nation with an average of 6.33 digs per game, and has at least 12 digs in every match this season. She is averaging 1.7 more digs per game than any other player in the Big Sky, and has posted 21 matches with at least 20 digs. Lutes probably would have four Big Sky Libero of the Year awards had she not missed 10 matches with a broken knuckle during the 2004 season.

Winners of five in a row and 16 of the last 17 matches, Sacramento State (28-5, 15-1) was crowned the Big Sky regular season champions and will host the conference tournament this Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 16-18. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, a place the Hornets have been eight times in the last nine years. Winners of either the Big Sky’s regular season and/or tournament championship for 10 consecutive years, Sacramento State will receive a first round bye in the tournament and face the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m.