With the victory, the Hornets improved to 20-4 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the Big Sky. With just nine matches left in the regular season (including eight against conference opposition), Sacramento State inched closer to what the team hopes will be its unprecedented 10th straight Big Sky championship.

The Hornets’ 20 victories marked the 12th consecutive season with at least 20 wins, and Sacramento State is 8-0 in the Big Sky for the first time since joining the league in 1996. Prior to this year, the Hornets’ best start to a conference season was 5-0, a mark set originally by the 2000 squad. Of Sacramento State’s eight conference wins, seven have come via three-game sweeps. The only non-sweep came last night when the Hornets posted a five-game victory at Montana.

Sacramento State has now won eight in a row, matching its second-longest winning streak in the six years (last year’s team won 16 in a row, the 2001 squad won eight in a row). The Hornets, currently receiving votes in the CSTV/AVCA top 25 poll, have lost just once in the last two months, a four-game loss at Santa Clara which was ranked ninth in the nation at the time.

With the loss, Montana State dropped to 6-11 overall and 2-6 in the Big Sky. Sacramento State now leads the all-time series between the two teams, 26-5, including victories in each of the last six matchups. The Hornets have been a thorn in the Bobcats’ side, defeating Montana State in the Big Sky Tournament semifinals five times in last six years.

Sacramento State, which erased a 27-23 deficit in game one and a 21-17 deficit in game three, led Montana State in virtually every statistical category, including kills (56-48), assists (53-44), digs (70-64), hitting percentage (.235-.164) and team blocks (11.0-6.0).

Three Hornets hit better than .420, comprised of senior Leah Klemenhagen (career-high 10 kills, .450 hitting percentage and three blocks), and junior middle hitters Lindsay Haupt (14 kills, .435 hitting percentage, six blocks) and Michelle Franz (nine kills, .421 hitting percentage, five blocks). Joining Klemenhagen and Haupt with double figures in kills was senior Atlee Hubbard (14 kills).

Despite the match lasting just three games, Hornet senior libero Kristin Lutes tallied 30 digs. Tonight marked her second-consecutive match and fourth time overall this season with at least 30 digs. Entering the week ninth in the nation in digs, Lutes is now averaging a ridiculous 6.85 digs per game against conference competition. Sophomore Rose Burke finished with 47 assists and 15 digs, the sophomore’s fourth consecutive match with double figures in digs.

Trailing, 27-23, in the first game, the Hornets were able to close the frame on a 7-1 run with the help of three attack errors and two ball-handling errors by Montana State. Franz had a kill to draw the Hornets within, 27-24, and a kill from Haupt ended things at 30-28.

No Montana State player with more than two kills finished with a hitting percentage higher than .210. The Bobcats were led by Patti Anderson’s 13 kills and 17 digs while Kim Stonehouse added 12 kills and Raelene Purnell tallied six blocks.

Sacramento State returns to action next week when it plays the final non-conference match of the season at UC Davis on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. The Hornets lead the all-time series with the Aggies, 46-16, including victories in each of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. Sacramento State then jumps back into Big Sky play with home matches against Montana State (Thursday, Oct. 19, 7 p.m.) and Weber State (Saturday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m.).