VOLLEYBALL MAKES TRIP TO EASTERN WASHINGTON AND PORTLAND STATE
9/29/2009
Preview Of The Week Ahead
After playing a school-record 10 home matches during the month of September, the Sacramento State volleyball team (9-7, 1-1) embarks upon a season-long five-match road trip. That trip begins this week with matches at Eastern Washington (Friday, Oct. 2) and Portland State (Saturday, Oct. 3). Now the toughest two-team road trip during Big Sky play, Portland State and Eastern Washington were selected to finish first and second, respectively, in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll. Sacramento State had won 11 straight Big Sky regular season and/or tournament championships until that streak was broken last season when Eastern Washington won the regular season title and Portland State won the tournament championship.
After beginning the season by winning just two of their first seven matches, the Hornets have won seven of nine and will enter Friday night’s matchup with Eastern Washington needing just one victory to match the win total from all of last season. Sacramento State opened Big Sky play by splitting two home matches, defeating Northern Arizona before falling to Northern Colorado.
Eastern Washington enters the week with an 8-5 overall record and a 4-0 Big Sky mark. The Eagles have been challenged in just one of their four Big Sky matches thus far, and that came last week in a five-set win at Idaho State (15-13 in the fifth). The Hornets own a 26-10 record in the all-time series, but the Eagles won both matches last season. Sacramento State is 9-7 all-time against Eastern Washington when playing in Cheney, Wash.
Portland State (8-6, 3-1) is 4-1 at home this season, having already swept conference foes Montana State and Montana two weeks ago. One of the longest standing rivalries in Hornet history, Sacramento State is 34-13 all-time against the Vikings. That includes a pair of wins over PSU last year and 29 victories in the last 32 meetings between the two schools.
Last Week
Sacramento State played three times in four days last week at home, defeating non-conference rival Nevada in three sets, before splitting with Northern Arizona (W, 3-1) and Northern Colorado (L, 3-0). The loss to Northern Colorado marked just the second time the Hornets have been swept at home in a Big Sky match, and first since Sept. 26, 1996, when the Hornets fell at home to Eastern Washington. After playing 10 home matches in the month of September, Sacramento State has just seven home matches remaining on the schedule.
Free Video Stream, Stats and Audio
Like every match against a Big Sky opponent (home or away) this season, free video stream will be offered via www.bigskytv.org. In addition, Eastern Washington will offer live stats via www.goeags.com, and Portland State will offer live stats at www.goviks.com.
A Comparison To Last Season
The Hornets have made major strides compared to last season’s rebuilding team which finished the season with just a 10-23 record. In fact, Sacramento State, which is exactly half way through the 2009 regular season, is already one victory shy of last year’s win total. The Hornets are currently 9-7 and 1-1 in the Big Sky this year, compared to 2-14 and 0-2 in the Big Sky at this same point last season. Sacramento State has been better in nearly every statistical category, and below is a breakdown of this year’s averages compared to last year’s numbers at the same point in the season.
Digs: 2009 - 17.23 per set; 2008 - 13.51 per set
Kills: 2009 - 12.42 per set; 2008 - 10.91 per set
Blocks: 2009 - 2.05 per set; 2008 - 1.56 per set
Hitting percentage: 2009 - .185; 2008 - .148
Assists: 2009 - 11.80 per set; 2008 - 10.09 per set
Total Points: 2009 - 1,042; 2008 - 794
Serving Tough And Defense
Two of Sacramento State’s biggest strengths this year have been serving tough and playing good defense. The Hornets are currently first in the Big Sky in service aces (1.57 per set), digs (17.23 per set) and opponents hitting percentage (.168). The 17.23 digs per set is more than two digs better than any other team in the Big Sky and is now the 17th best mark in the nation. In addition, the Hornets’ 102 aces are 24 more than the next closest Big Sky team (Portland State, 78).
Carrying The Load
It could be argued that the Hornets’ outside hitter combination of senior Desiree Hoyum and freshman Janelle Currey have been the best duo in the Big Sky Conference. Especially when you consider that Currey and Hoyum are tied for the Big Sky lead with 10 double-doubles. Both rank among the top nine players in the conference in kills, points and digs, the only outside hitter tandem in the league to rank that high in all three categories. Hoyum’s averages of 3.37 kills, 3.86 digs and 3.88 points per set rank third, sixth and fourth, respectively, while Currey’s averages of 3.18 kills, 3.37 digs and 3.69 points rank sixth, ninth and fifth, respectively. The two have combined for 426 of the team’s 807 kills, or 52.7 percent of the team’s offensive output. Either Hoyum (8 times) or Currey (6 times) has led the team in kills in 14 of 16 matches thus far.
Madd Numbers
Junior Maddison Thivierge has now hit better than .300 in eight of her last 11 matches, and is hitting .359 (115-23-256) over that span. During that run, she has tallied double-figure kills seven times, including a career-high 18 vs. Alabama. Her season hitting percentage of .310 is easily the best mark on the Hornets and the sixth best mark in the Big Sky. Entering the season, Thivierge’s career hitting percentage was .243 and she had not hit better than .252 in either of her first two years.
Hornet Notables
Sophomore libero Breanne Menees is now first in the Big Sky in digs (287) and second in digs per set (4.56)...four of the Hornets’ starters are underclassmen, comprised of Menees, middle hitter Kelsey Elston (So.), rightside hitter Eryn Kirby (So.) and outside hitter Janelle Currey (Fr.)...Elston and Maddison Thivierge are tied for sixth in the Big Sky with 0.88 blocks per set...sophomore outside hitter Cayti Crowton, who badly sprained her ankle in practice during the second week of the season, could see her first action this week since she last played against Syracuse on Aug. 29.
Preview Of The Week Ahead
