The Week Ahead

• Sacramento State (5-2) will play its first matches away from home when it travels to Gainesville for the three-day, four-team Gator Invitational on Thursday-Saturday.
• The Hornets opened the season with a seven-match homestand which included hosting tournaments on back-to-back weekends. Last week, Sacramento State won the Hornet Invitational by virtue of a perfect 3-0 record at the two-day event.
• Most recently, the Hornets had their three-match winning streak snapped in a Labor Day matchup with Saint Mary's, 3-1.
• As part of the Gator Invite, the Hornets will play once on three consecutive days. That begins on Thursday vs. the third ranked team in the nation and tournament host Florida at 4 p.m. PDT. On Friday, Sacramento State plays Winthrop at 1 p.m. PDT, followed by a Saturday matchup vs. Clemson at 10 a.m. PDT.
• The Hornets' three opponents at this week's tournament enter the week with the following records: Florida (4-0), Clemson (4-2) and Winthrop (0-6). Florida is ranked third in the nation (including two first place votes) in the current AVCA top 25 poll.
• Since making the jump to the Div. I ranks in 1991, the Hornets are 7-50 against nationally ranked opposition. The Hornets have lost eight straight matches to ranked teams since their last win over 14th-ranked Cal Poly in four sets (in San Francisco) on Sept. 15, 2007.
• Florida (#3) will be the Hornets' highest ranked opponent since playing top-ranked Cal on the road on Sept. 10, 2011 (a 3-0 Sacramento State loss).
• The Hornets' 5-2 record is the team's best seven-match start since the 2015 squad was 6-1.
• Last season, Sacramento State was 7-5 on the road, and 1-5 at neutral sites.
• At last week's Hornet Invitational, Sacramento State had three all-tournament selections, let by rightside hitter Caitlin Volkmann being named tourney MVP. Joining her on the all-tournament team were outside hitter Bridgette Smith and setter Hailey Plugge.
• Beginning on Thursday, Sacramento State will play six of its next seven matches away from home.
• Head coach Ruben Volta, in his 15th season at the helm, is nine wins shy of 250 career victories.
• The Hornets currently rank among the top 15 teams in the nation in both total kills (7th with 349) and total blocks (12th with 64.5). Sacramento State leads the Big Sky in hitting percentage (.246), opponent hitting percentage (.159), kills per set (13.42) and opponent kills per set (10.85).
• The Hornets have a veteran-laden roster that includes 13 returners. In fact, Sacramento State returns six starters and its libero. The Hornets lost just two players from a year ago, which includes their starting setter Ashtin Olin.

Multimedia Options

• Only one of the Hornets' matches in Gainesville will be video streamed - Thursday's matchup vs. Florida will stream on ESPN+
• Florida is offering live stats for all three matches.
• All of Sacramento State's home matches this year, as well as road games at a Big Sky Conference venue, will be streamed on ESPN+ for the third straight season.
• Matches on ESPN+ can be found on watchespn.com and the ESPN app.
• Live stats will be offered for every match this season. Reminder that all multimedia links can be found on the volleyball schedule at hornetsports.com.

Against This Week's Opponents

• Sacramento State has played Florida just once, and that was two years ago when the Gators traveled to Sacramento for the Hornet Invitational. Florida, ranked sixth at the time, won in three sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-20) on Aug. 28, 2021. In that game, the Gators hit .413 while the Hornets hit just .098.
• Friday will be the first-ever meeting against Winthrop, which hails from Rock Hill, South Carolina, and is a member of the Big South Conference.
• Saturday will also be the first-ever meeting with Clemson. The Tigers are from Clemson, South Carolina, and play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Wrapping Up The 2022 Season

• Last season, Sacramento State posted a 15-15 overall record, 10-6 in the Big Sky Conference, and 7-5 at both home and on the road (1-5 neutral floors). The Hornets have finished 10-6 in league play each of the last three seasons.
• The Hornets reached the semifinal round of the Big Sky Tournament, losing to eventual champion Northern Colorado, 3-2 (15-11 in the 5th set). Sacramento State beat Montana in four in the quarters.
• Sacramento State had four players named all-Big Sky Conference. That includes a pair of first teamers (outside hitter Bridgette Smith, middle blocker Kalani Hayes) and a pair of second teamers (middle blocker Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin, setter Ashtin Olin). Olin is the only player not back among the four.

New Faces At Setter

• After watching Ashtin Olin start at setter each of the last five years (extra season of play because of the pandemic), Sacramento State fans have seen a pair of new players at the position in 2023.
• Setters Hailey Plugge and Kate Doorn, both Div. I transfers, have run a successful 6-2 offense that has seen the team average a Big Sky-leading 13.42 kills per set to go with 12.08 assists per set.
• Plugge was named to the Hornet Invite all-tourney team on Saturday, and is averaging 6.19 assists and 1.85 digs per set. Doorn is averaging 4.31 assists and 1.42 digs per set.
• Both Plugge and Doorn transferred in January, and played in the spring with the Hornet beach team. This fall is their first indoor seasons at Sacramento State.
• Olin was a very decorated setter, earning second team all-Big Sky honors each of her five seasons.

Notables

• Outside hitter Bridgette Smith now has 927 career kills as she continues to creep towards 1,000. She would become the 25th player during the program's Div. I era (1991-pres.) to reach the milestone.
• Libero Caty Cordano has registered double figures in digs in every match thus far, and in nine consecutive matches dating back to last season.
• Rightside hitter Caitlin Volkmann was named the Hornet Invitational MVP last week after hitting .446 with 2.91 kills per set over three matches. The senior, who has started 47 straight matches dating back to 2021, has hit better than .350 in five of the team's seven contests.
• Middle blocker Kalani Hayes, a first team all-league selection a year ago, is hitting .321 (1.81 kps) this season, and now has a career .313 percentage. Only 10 Hornets have hit better than .310 during their careers during the program's Div. I era.
• Outside hitter Ellie Tisko is averaging 3.04 kils and 2.46 digs per set. Her season output of 79 kills and 64 digs isn't far off her season career highs of 125 kills and 114 digs, set last season. Tisko has posted double figures in kills in four of the seven matches thus far.
• Middle blocker Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin, a second team all-league choice a year ago, is fourth in the Big Sky with 1.16 blocks per set. Last season, she averaged 1.18 blocks per set.
• Sacramento State is 5-0 when hitting above .200, and 0-2 when hitting below that mark. In addition, the team is 5-0 when holding the opponent to a hitting percentage below .200.
• The Hornets have yet to lose a match when winning the first set (4-0).
• The Hornets will play only seven more times before Big Sky play begins on Sept. 21.