SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento State volleyball team was crowned Big Sky Tournament champions for the third time in four years with a convincing 3-0 (15-6, 15-13, 15-4) victory over Eastern Washington Saturday evening in Hornet Gym. With the win, the Hornets will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, marking the fourth-consecutive year the team will make an appearance in the NCAA's. The NCAA Tournament field of 64 will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 26, at 5 p.m. PST.
The win also marked Sacramento State head coach Debby Colberg's 650th career victory. Colberg now has a career record of 650-227, good for an overall .741 winning percentage.
The Hornets, who are now 21-11 overall, were led in the match by junior Tasman Dwyer's 17 kills and six blocks while sophomore Jayme Wright added 12. Freshman Lisa Beauchene, who was named tournament MVP, finished with five kills, 32 assists, 10 digs and one block. Dwyer and junior Esther Rogers joined Beauchene as the three Hornet all-tournament selections.
The Hornets held the advantage over Eastern Washington in almost every statistical category including kills (50-32), hitting percentage (.206-.075), assists (39-28), digs (55-53) and team blocks (9.0-7.0).
Eastern Washington (18-10) was led by Janelle Ruen's 10 kills while Jessie Wright recorded a match-high 16 digs. The Eagles' Jennifer Gabel and Angie Hall were named to the all-tournament team.
In game one, Eastern Washington never held a lead as Sacramento State jumped out to a quick 6-1 advantage. The Eagles could get no closer than five points the rest of the way. Dwyer led all players in the frame with seven kills.
Sacramento State erased deficits of 10-0, 11-5 and 13-12 in game two. Down 10-0, the Hornets ran off five unanswered points to claw back to 10-5. After a Gabel kill extended the Eagles' lead to 11-5, the Hornets cracked off six-straight points to tie the game, 11-11. A Hornet attack error and a service ace later, EWU went up, 13-11. After Sacramento State inched back to 13-12, the Hornets scored three-consecutive points to close the game on a Kelly Voeltz serving ace followed by consecutive Eagle attack errors.
Much like game one, the Hornets controlled game three, never allowing an Eagle lead. The Hornets scored nine unanswered points after leading 6-4. The Eagles recorded hitting percentages of .047, .070 and .118 in games one, two and three, respectively.
The 2000 Div. I Women's Volleyball Selection Show next Sunday can be seen with the use of a small consumer DSS dish such as DirecTV or Dish Network. Sunshine Network (DirecTV 632/Dish Network 422) and Home Team Sports (DirecTV 629/Dish Network 424) will both air the show live.
2000 All-Big Sky Tournament Team
Lisa Beauchene, Sacramento State (MVP)
Anne Watts, Montana State
Lindsay Kaiser, Montana
Jennifer Gabel, Eastern Washington
Angie Hall, Eastern Washington
Tasman Dwyer, Sacramento State
Esther Rogers, Sacramento State
2000 Big Sky Tournament Records
Game 1
Montana vs Eastern Washington
None
Game 2
Cal State Northridge vs Montana State
Alexis Cormier set a new four-game single match record with 71 total attacks.
Cal State Northridge beat the old record of 100 digs and set a four-game single-match record with 105 digs.
Game 3
Eastern Washington vs Northern Arizona
Robyn Sonju-Felder had four service aces to take over the three-game single-match record.
Eastern Washington took over the 10 year old record of 11 service aces in a single match by tallying 12.
Game 4
Montana State vs Sacramento State
Karin Lundqvist tied six others for the record in single-match service aces with four and tied with four others in total blocks after notching 11.
Montana State tied for the top position in single-match block assists with 28 and tied for second in total blocks with 18.
Game 5
Eastern Washington vs Sacramento State
None
Big Sky Tournament Individual Records 2+ Matches
Stephanie Laya of Montana State took over the fifth position in total attacks by recording 135 in two matches.
Karin Lundqvist of Montana State tied with seven players to rank fourth in block solos with four.
Julia Handwerk of Montana State ranks fifth in block assists after tallying 13.
Kazmiera Imrie of Sacramento State took over the second position in service ace average per game after tallying .75.
Janelle Ruen of Eastern Washington tied for second with four others in service aces with six.
Big Sky Tournament Team Records 2+ Matches
Montana State tied with three others to rank third in block assists with 46, took over the second position in total blocks with 31 and tied with Idaho (1992) to rank fifth in block average with 3.44 per game. Eastern Washington ranks fifth in kills with 174, fifth in total attacks with 484 and fifth in service aces per game with 2.27 and broke a Big Sky Tournament record by tallying 25 service aces.
