A Look at This Week

After splitting a pair of matches last week on the road (a 3-0 win

at Portland State and a 3-0 loss at Eastern Washington), the Sacramento

State volleyball team remains in first place in the Big Sky standings and

enters the week with a 16-10 overall record and a 9-3 mark in the Big Sky

Conference.

Winners of six of its last eight matches, Sacramento State plays

its final two regular season home matches this week against the Grizzlies

of Montana on Thursday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. and the Bengals of Idaho State on

Friday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. Friday''s contest against the Bengals will mark

the final regular season home matches in the careers of fourth-year seniors

Sarah Chlebana and Kristi Lambert.

Sacramento State is 9-2 overall at home including a 6-0 mark

against Big Sky competition. However, the team is 4-6 on the road and will

play both Northern Arizona and Cal State Northridge on the road in the

final week of the season.

Montana enters Thursday''s match 14-11 overall and 6-6 in the Big

Sky. After beginning the season 12-6, the Grizzlies, who currently hold the

sixth and final playoff spot in the Big Sky, have dropped five of their

last seven matches. The Hornets defeated Montana in Missoula, 3-1, earlier

this season and have won five of the last six meetings between the two

teams. However, Montana ended the Hornets'' 19-match home winning streak

against Big Sky teams with a 3-2 victory on Oct. 14 of last season.

Idaho State, which has lost 10 of its last 12 matches, enters the

week with an 8-18 overall record and a 4-10 conference mark. The Bengals

will travel to Weber State on Thursday before playing the Hornets on

Friday. Sacramento State beat Idaho State earlier this season in Pocatello,

Idaho, 3-1. In fact, the Hornets have beaten the Bengals seven-straight

times over the last four years.

A Look at the Big Sky Playoff Picture

With four matches to play, the Hornets (9-3) remain all alone atop

the Big Sky standings, one game ahead of Montana State, Northern Arizona

and Eastern Washington, which are each tied for second place with 8-4

conference records. The conference winner is crowned Big Sky regular season

champion and gains the right to host the conference championship Nov.

16-18. The top six teams in the nine-team conference advance to the

tournament.

If two or more teams are tied for first place at the end of the

season, here is the list and order of tiebreakers that will come into

effect: 1) The result of head-to-head competition between the teams. 2) The

percent of total games won between/among the tied teams. 3) The scoring

margin of games between/among tied teams.

The Hornets have split two matches with Montana State this season

but own the second tiebreaker over the Bobcats with the higher number of

total games won (5-3).

As of right now, the Hornets also own the tiebreaker over Northern

Arizona because of a 3-0 victory (15-11, 15-10, 15-6) over the Lumberjacks

earlier in the season. Sacramento State plays at Northern Arizona on Nov.

9, but the Lumberjacks would have to beat the Hornets, 3-0, and win the

differential in points to gain back the tiebreaker.

Eastern Washington is the only second-place team that owns the

tiebreaker over the Hornets. Although the two teams split this season, the

Eagles have won a higher percentage of games between the two teams. The

Hornets beat Eastern Washington, 3-1, earlier in the season but the Eagles

responded with a 3-0 victory over Sacramento State last week.

A Look at the Coaches

For the 25th-straight season, Debby Colberg controls the Hornet

sidelines. During her tenure, Colberg has posted a 645-226 record (.741

winning percentage) and has led the team to 10 league titles and 19

postseason berths. Her 645 wins is ties her for ninth all-time with UC

Santa Barbara''s Kathy Gregory among coaches with at least five years of

Div. I experience. She has also captured league coach of the year honors

five times and Region Coach of the Year honors 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. After two third-place

finishes in the Div. II playoffs, Colberg guided the Hornets to the

championships game in 1989. That season she was named AVCA National Div. II

Coach of the Year.

In addition to leading the Hornets to three-consecutive NCAA

Tournament appearances over the last three years, she has also had the

added responsibility of serving as the school''s athletic director.

Montana is led by head coach Nikki Best, who is currently 14-11 in

her first year with the Grizzlies. Best owns a 67-44 record in her third

season as a collegiate head coach.

Idaho State''s head coach Mike Welch is also currently in his first

season with the program and has a 8-18 record. In 10 years as a collegiate

head coach, Welch has posted a 183-132 record.

A Look at Last Week

The Hornets went 1-1 last week on the road, including a 3-0 (15-8,

15-5, 15-6) victory over Portland State on Oct. 28, and a 3-0 (15-13,

15-11, 15-9) loss to Eastern Washington on Oct. 29.

Friday, the Hornets defeated Portland State for the

14th-consecutive time over the last 11 years as Tasman Dwyer and Sarah

Chlebana each paced the team with 12 kills. Sacramento State hit .254 for

the match while Lisa Beauchene chipped in eight kills and a career-high

.636 hitting percentage (8-1-11). Portland State, which hit just .078 for

the match, had no player record more than eight kills.

Saturday, Eastern Washington extended its home winning streak to 26

matches with the 3-0 sweep over the Hornets. The Eagles dominated the

Hornets in almost every aspect of the match including hitting percentage

(.377-.210), kills (64-48), digs (58-32) and team blocks (8.0-6.0). Esther

Rogers and Chlebana each posted 11 kills to lead the Hornets.

A Look at the Hornets

ALL OR NOTHING

Of 26 Sacramento State matches this season, 19 have resulted in 3-0

scores. The Hornets have come out on top in 12 of those matches but have

also been swept on seven occasions. Seven of the Hornets'' nine wins at home

this year have come by way of a sweep with the only non 3-0 victories

coming against Saint Mary''s (3-2) and Eastern Washington (3-1). In their 16

wins this year, the Hornets have dropped just five games combined in those

contests.

DOMINANT DWYER

As has been the case all season, junior middle hitter Tasman Dwyer

continues to be the Hornets'' most consistent player. The Placerville,

Calif., native currently leads the Hornets in kills (328), hitting

percentage (.298) and total blocks (107). She has recorded double figures

in kills in 18 or her last 20 matches and has hit above .300 in 13 of 26

matches. An honorable mention all-Big Sky selection last season, she has

accumulated at least four blocks in all but nine matches this year.

Among Big Sky leaders, Dwyer leads the conference in blocks per

game (1.50) and ranks sixth in hitting percentage and eighth in kills (3.81

per game).

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

* Since joining the Big Sky in 1996, Sacramento State has posted the best

conference winning percentage of the league''s nine teams. The Hornets are

61-13 (.824) followed by Eastern Washington (55-21). Montana State (47-29),

Cal State Northridge (47-29) and Northern Arizona (45-31) are the other

schools with winning league records. Montana (31-45), Weber State (29-47),

Idaho State (19-59) and Portland State (12-64) round out the field.

OTHER NOTES

With nine kills in the loss at Eastern Washington, Tasman Dwyer saw her

streak of 11-consecutive matches with double-figure kills come to a

close...in the Sacramento State all-time career records book, Sarah

Chlebana is sixth in kills (1,058) and attacks (3,043), eighth in digs

(1,259) and 10th in total blocks (265)...the Hornets have now lost

three-straight matches on the road to Eastern Washington, the team''s

longest dry spell away from home against any Big Sky team...Sacramento

State''s current team hitting percentage of .210 is a season high...the

team''s output of 48 kills against Eastern Washington was a season low

against Big Sky competition...sophomore Esther Rogers has recorded exactly

11 kills in five of her last seven matches. In addition to the kills in

those five matches, she has recorded hitting percentages of .370, .310,

.409, .688 and .375, respectively...the Hornets have won nine of their last

12 contests...among Big Sky leaders, freshman setter Lisa Beauchene is

sixth in assists (11.84 per game), tied for seventh in hitting percentage

(.276) and tied for ninth in digs (3.28 per game)...the Hornets have

outblocked their opponents, 232.0-192.5.