The Week Ahead - NIVC Tournament
• Despite not receiving an invite to the NCAA Tournament, Sacramento State (21-11) has qualified for the postseason as the team will host the first two rounds of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) this Thursday and Friday.
• Joining the Hornets at the Nest will be Pacific (18-10), UNLV (19-12) and Montana State (21-8). The four teams make up one of the Regionals of the 32-team NIVC field.
• Three matches will be played over two days at the Nest. Thursday features Pacific taking on Montana State at 4 p.m., followed by the Hornets facing UNLV at 7 p.m. The winners of those two matches will square off Friday at 7 p.m.
• Sacramento State will be making its fifth appearance at the NIVC, including 2017, 1995, 1993 and 1992. In their most recent appearance, the Hornets fell to UC Irvine (in Stockton) in the first round of the 2017 NIVC.
• The Hornets are 9-6 all-time at the NIVC, which includes a 5-1 record in 1995 when Sacramento State lost to Wisconsin in the championship match in five sets (15-13 in the fifth set). They went 3-1 in 1993.
• The Hornets will be hosting an NIVC match for the first time. During the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons, each of those NIVC appearances took place in Kansas City.
• The NIVC, which is the equivalent to the basketball NIT, offers bids to teams that did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The NIVC was originally played from 1989-95, and made its return in 2017.
• The tournament features 16 first-round games, followed by eight second-round games, four third-round games, two semifinal games, and the championship.
• Sacramento State received an automatic berth to the tournament by virtue of winning the Big Sky Conference's regular season championship. The Hornets had their Big Sky Tournament run end last Thursday in a five-set semifinal loss to Weber State in Greeley, Colo.
• Montana State, which the Hornets played twice this season, lost in five sets in the Big Sky Tournament championship to Weber State. Three Big Sky schools qualified for the NIVC (Northern Colorado).
• NIVC champions of the current era include Boston College (2022), UNLV (2021), Georgia Tech (2019), Iowa State (2018) and Ole Miss (2017). There was no NIVC tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic.
• The Hornets will enter the tournament with a 21-11 overall record, and were the No. 1 seed at the Big Sky Tournament by virtue of winning the regular season title. Sacramento State went 12-4 at home this season, and has won seven of the last eight in the Nest.
• All four teams in the Hornets' Regional are close to each other in the NCAA RPI Report, comprised of UNLV (108), Pacific (120), Montana State (140) and Sacramento State (149).
Multimedia Options

• Every match this week will be streamed live on ESPN+ with play-by-play announcer Will Schilling on the call. Schilling called nearly every Sacramento State home match this season.
• Matches on ESPN+ can be found on watchespn.com and the ESPN app.
• Live stats will be offered for every match of the tournament.
• Reminder that all multimedia links can be found on the volleyball schedule at hornetsports.com.

vs. The Regional Field

• UNLV (19-12 overall) went 11-7 and finished third in the Mountain West  Conference. The Rebels lost in five in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals to New Mexico. UNLV had won five straight, and seven of eight, prior to its loss to New Mexico
• UNLV is 6-7 when playing on an opponent's home floor.
• Sacramento State has played UNLV just three times, winning two of those outcomes. The last matchup was a 3-1 Hornet road loss to the Rebels on Sept. 2, 2016.
• The Hornets won neutral court matchups in 2003 (3-0 win) and 2002 (3-2 win).
• Pacific (18-10 overall) went 10-6 and finished fourth in the West Coast Conference. The Tigers have won four of their last five matches.
• The Hornets are 7-30 all-time against Pacific, including a four-set loss to the Tigers earlier this year in Stockton (25-21, 24-26, 25-16, 25-9).
• Sacramento State is 6-11 at home vs. Pacific, but has won four of the last five meetings in the Nest.
• Montana State (21-8 overall) went 12-4 and finished in a tie for second in the Big Sky standings. The Bobcats lost in five sets to Weber State in the Big Sky championship match. The Bobcats held a 5-0, and 12-8 lead in the fifth set before falling.
• Sacramento State is very familiar with Montana State. The teams split a pair of matches this season with each team winning on its home floor.
• The Hornets are 49-11 all-time vs. Montana State, including a 28-3 mark at home.

Five Hornets Named All-Conference; Volta Named Coach of the Year

• Last week, two Hornets received individual honors, and five players were named all-conference.
• Senior outside hitter Bridgette Smith was named the league's MVP, becoming the Hornets' first MVP since Kennedy Kurtz in 2017, and the first Hornet outside hitter named MVP since 1996 (Jill Haas).
• Ruben Volta was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the third time (2023, 2017, 2015) after guiding the Hornets to the conference's regular season title.
• Smith was named first team all-Big Sky for the third straight year after ranking second in the conference with 4.00 kills and 4.63 points per set in league play. She is the first Hornet outside hitter to be named first team all-Big Sky on three occasions.
• Senior middle blocker Kalani Hayes was named to the first team, and becomes just the third Hornet middle to be named first team multiple times. A four-time all-conference selection (second team in 2020 and 2021), Hayes leads the conference in blocks (1.48 bps) and ranks fourth in hitting% (.395).
• Senior middle blocker Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin was a unanimous first team all-conference selection after easily leading the Big Sky with a .451 hitting percentage in league play. She also ranks third with 1.28 blocks per set. Her .374 overall hitting% is the second best mark in program single-season history.
• Libero Caty Cordano was named to the second team for the second time (2020), and ranks third overall in the Big Sky with 4.10 digs per set. She also averaged 4.17 digs in conference play. She has posted double figures in digs on 28 occasions, including at least 17 digs on 18 occasions.
• Outside hitter Ellie Tisko was named to the second team. Tisko spent parts of the season at rightside and outside hitter, most recently on the outside. Her average of 2.80 kills per set in conference play ranks second on the team.

Hornet Notables

• Senior rightside hitter Caitlin Volkmann is just 18 kills shy of 1,000 for her career. If she reaches that mark, Volkmann will become the 26th player in program history to achieve the milestone.
• Bridgette Smith is just 56 digs shy of becoming the 13th Hornet in program history to reach the 1,000 kills, 1,000 digs milestone. She currently has 1,275 kills and 944 digs.
• Despite running a 6-2 offense all season, both Hornet setters - Kate Doorn 7th with 6.28 aps, Hailey Plugge 8th with 5.18 aps - rank among the Big Sky's top 10 players in assists in conference play.
• Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin was named to the Big Sky Tourney's all-tournament team.
• Statistically speaking, its very easy to figure out if the Hornets will win or lose based on the opponent hitting percentage. Sacramento State is 19-1 when holding an opponent below .200, and 2-10 when the opposition hits above .200. Weber State hit .146 in its Big Sky Tourney semis win over the Hornets.