The Week Ahead

• The Hornets begin the 2022 season when they host the two-day, four-team Sacramento State Invitational on Aug. 26-27. Four games will be played Friday, and two more will take place on Saturday inside the Nest.
• The four-team tournament field consists of Sacramento State, Middle Tennessee, Nevada and Portland. All four teams will play three times over the two-day event.
• Games will be played at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Two more matches will take place on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
• Sacramento State plays twice on Friday - 12 p.m. vs. Nevada, and 7:30 p.m. vs. Middle Tennessee. On Saturday, the Hornets will play Portland at 1:30 p.m.
• Other matches on Friday include Middle Tennessee vs. Portland at 10 a.m., and Nevada vs. Portland at 5 p.m. On Saturday, Nevada plays Middle Tennessee at 1:30 p.m.
• This will mark the fourth straight non-COVID shortened season the Hornets will begin the year with a home tournament. Sacramento State opened the 2018, 2019 and 2021 seasons with home tourneys.
• Series records against this week's opponents - the Hornets are 36-14 all-time vs. Nevada, 5-1 against Portland, and the matchup vs. Middle Tennessee will be the first ever between the two teams.
• Sacramento State was very good at home a year ago, posting a 12-4 record inside the Nest. In fact, the Hornets won each of their final eight home matches a year ago. Each of those victories came via three-set sweep. Of the Hornets' 12 home wins, nine were finished in three sets.
• The home of the Hornets - the Nest - received some upgrades during the summer. Most notably is the new paint job that includes a black ceiling and dark green walls. Prior to the paint job, the majority of the walls and the ceiling were white.

Multimedia Options

• All six matches at this week's tournament will be video streamed on ESPN+ with the combination of Brian Berger, Will Schilling and Cianna Andrews handling the announcing duties.
• All of Sacramento State's home matches, as well as road games at a Big Sky Conference venue, will be streamed on ESPN+. The Big Sky enters into its second year with the subscription-based service.
• Matches on ESPN+ can be found on watchespn.com and the ESPN app.
• Live stats will also be made available for every match of the tournament.
• A home page has been set up for the tournament on the volleyball page at hornetsports.com where direct links to all video and live stats links can be found.

vs. This Week's Opponents

• The Hornets are 36-14 all-time against Nevada, including a 21-4 record when playing at home vs. the Wolf Pack. In fact, Sacramento State won 18 straight home matches vs. Nevada until that streak was stopped in 2007. The Wolf Pack have won four of the last seven meetings in Sacramento.
• Overall, Nevada has won three straight in the series, and four of the last six. That included a 3-1 win in Reno a year ago over the Hornets. Each of the last seven meetings between the teams have resulted in 3-1 outcomes.
• Sacramento State has never played Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders are members of Conference USA, and posted a 9-12 overall record and 6-6 conference mark a year ago.
• Sacramento State and Portland have faced each other just six times, and the Hornets have won five of those meetings. In fact, the Hornets won each of the first five meetings before Portland swept Sacramento State in 2018 at the Boise State Classic. That is the teams' last meeting against one another.
• The Hornets have played the Pilots just twice at home, and both resulted in Sacramento State victories in 1985 (3-1) and 1986 (3-0).

Wrapping Up The 2021 Season

• Sacramento State concluded the 2021 season with a 16-12 overall record and 10-6 mark in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets went 12-4 at home, 3-7 on the road, and 1-1 at neutral sites.
• The Hornets won eight of the final nine matches of the regular season before losing in heartbreaking fashion in the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal round (3-2 loss to Portland State, 15-13 in the 5th).
• One of the more impressive aspects from last season was the sheer dominance at home during Sacramento State's second half of the schedule. The team won its final eight home matches, and all came via three-set sweep. That included sweeps of the Big Sky's first, second and third place teams, as well as a sweep of Boise State which won the Mountain West Tournament championship.
• The Hornets ran a 6-2 offense all last season, and remains to be seen if the team will do so again.
• The Hornets had four players named to the all-Big Sky team, and three of them are back in 2022. That includes outside hitter Bridgette Smith (1st team), middle blocker Kalani Hayes (2nd team), and setter Ashtin Olin (2nd team).

A Young Team, But Strong Core of Returners Will Lead The Way

• Of Sacramento State's 15 players on this season's roster, seven are freshmen which is the most newcomers on a Hornet roster since the 2014 squad had eight incoming players.
• While that may seem like a rebuilding year on paper, it definitely will not be a rebuild. That's because the Hornets bring back a strong core of eight returners that all started matches last season.
• Among this year's returners are starters at outside hitter (Bridgette Smith and Caitlin Volkmann), setter (Ashtin Olin), middle blocker (Kalani Hayes) and libero (Caty Cordano). In addition, rightside hitter Karlee Soderberg (13), middle blocker Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin (12) and rightside hitter Ellie Tisko (1) also return after starting matches a year ago.

Lots Of Notables

•  Sacramento State's coaching staff remains the same in 2022, featuring head coach Ruben Volta and assistant coaches Sarah Chlebana and Ed Jackson. All three played for, and graduated, from Sacramento State. Both Volta and Jackson are members of the Sacramento State Men's Volleyball Hall of Fame while Chlebana was a four-year starter for the women's team from 1997-00.
• In all, Sacramento State will play 28 matches during the regular season, including 12 at home. The Hornets open the season by playing four of their first five contests at home before a stretch that will see the team play eight straight matches away from the Nest.
• Sixteen of the team's 28 matches will come against Big Sky competition, and conclude with five of the final seven regular season matches at home. The Hornets will play every team in the conference twice except Weber State (road) and Eastern Washington (home). Southern Utah had been in the Big Sky the last 10 years, but is no longer in the conference after heading to the WAC.
• Over the last seven years, Sacramento State has combined for an 80-35 conference record, which includes a dominant 50-7 mark at home.
• On Aug. 20, the Hornets inducted three former players - Carissa Buie, Lindsay Haupt and Kristin Lutes - into the Sacramento State Volleyball Hall of Fame. There are now 23 players that reside in the Hornet Volleyball Hall of Fame.
• Kalani Hayes, who wore jersey #12 last season, will make the switch to #2 this year.
• This season will mark the Hornets' 27th in the Big Sky Conference (1996-pres.).
• Sacramento State has won its home opener each of the last four years.