The Week Ahead

• Currently the lone unbeaten team in Big Sky Conference play, Sacramento State (10-6, 3-0) concludes a three-match homestand this week with a pair of games against league foes.
• The Hornets will host Northern Arizona (7-7, 0-3) on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a Saturday matchup vs. Northern Colorado (11-5, 2-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday's contest is an afternoon start because of Sacramento State's home football game that evening at 6 p.m.
• Through two weeks of conference play, the Hornets, who are the defending Big Sky regular season champs, currently sit atop the league standings with a 3-0 record. They are followed by five teams with one loss - Idaho State (3-1), Weber State (3-1), Montana State (3-1), Northern Colorado (2-1) and Portland State (2-1). The Portland State and Montana State losses were both issued by Sacramento State.
• Last week, the Hornets played just once, and dominated Portland State in a 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 outcome that took just one hour, 13 minutes to complete. In the process, the Hornets hit a season-high .421 (42-10-76), a mark which fell just shy of the Sacramento State single-match top 10 for highest hitting percentage (.424 is the 10th spot).
• After the current three-match homestand concludes, the Hornets will play seven of their next nine on the road - a stretch which lasts from Oct. 18-Nov. 16.
• Sacramento State has yet to lose at home this season (5-0). The team has won 10 straight conference matches at home dating back to last year.
• Since 2015, Sacramento State has combined for a 106-44 conference record (.707 winning percentage), and a 66-10 home record against league foes during that span. That includes Big Sky regular season championships in 2023 and 2017.
• The Hornets have used the same starting lineup in every match this season - Kate Doorn at setter, Bridgette Smith and Caitlin Volkmann at outside hitter, Ashlynn Archer and Karlie Spohn at middle blocker, Ellie Tisko on the right side, and both Reese Ampi and Abbey Kadillak at libero.
• Sacramento State currently ranks 105th out of 346 Div. I teams in the NCAA's first RPI report.
• The Hornets have won at least nine conference matches each of the last nine years. That includes 10-plus wins four consecutive seasons. Last season's team finished 13-3 in league, and won the Big Sky regular season championship.
• The Hornets need two victories to record their 1,100th win spanning 49 seasons. The team is 1,098-535 since 1976, which was the first season of AVCA Hall of Famer Debby Colberg's coaching career at Sacramento State. There have only been two head coaches during that time frame - Colberg and Ruben Volta. The two have combined for 14 conference coach of the year accolades.

Multimedia Options

• Every match the remainder of the season will air on ESPN+.
• For the fourth straight year, all of Sacramento State's home matches, as well as road games at a Big Sky Conference venue, will stream on ESPN+.
• Multimedia links, including video, live stats and tickets, can be found next to each match on the volleyball schedule at hornetsports.com.

vs. This Week's Opponents

• Northern Arizona enters the week with a 7-7 overall record and 0-3 mark in the Big Sky. The Lumberjacks have yet to win a set during conference play, getting swept by Weber State and Northern Colorado at home, and Montana State on the road. The team is 2-3 on the road.
• Northern Colorado, which hosted last year's Big Sky Tournament, enters the week with an 11-5 overall record and 2-1 conference mark. Both of those conference wins came on the road at Montana and Northern Arizona. The Bears currently the own the Big Sky's best RPI ranking at No. 69 on the strength of quality wins vs. Colorado State, Ole Miss and Wichita State. Both the Colorado State and Wichita State wins were on the road. In fact, the Bears have yet to lose on the road this season (6-0).
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• Sacramento State is 42-24 all-time vs. Northern Arizona, including four straight wins in the series. Each of the last three victories have come via sweep. That includes sweeping the season series a year ago via 3-0 scores. The Hornets are 27-2 vs. NAU at home, and since the team's first matchup against each other in Sacramento in 1996, the Lumberjacks' lone wins in the Nest came in 2011 and 2021.
• Northern Colorado is the only Big Sky team with an all-time winning record against the Hornets. Sacramento State is 16-20 vs. the Bears in a series which dates back to 1983. The Bears have won seven of the last nine matchups, though the Hornets won the teams' lone meeting a year ago via 3-0 road sweep in Greeley. Sacramento State is 10-6 when playing Northern Colorado in the Nest.

Outside Hitter Tandem Playing Big

• Starting outside hitters Bridgette Smith and Caitlin Volkmann have been incredible, and are certainly making a case for the Big Sky's best OH tandem.
• Overall, Smith leads the Big Sky in kills per set (3.76) while Volkmann ranks fourth at 3.58 kps. And in conference play, Volkmann leads the team  and ranks second in the league with 4.36 kps.
• Overall, the Hornets are the only team in the Big Skywith two players ranking among the top five in kills per set. The same can be said about points per set where Smith leads the conference at 4.51 pps, whie Volkmann isn't far behind in fourth at 4.15 pps.
• Either Smith (8 times) or Volkmann (7 times) has led the team in kills in all but one match this season. Ellie Tisko paced the team in kills in the win over CSU Bakersfield.
• Both players are fifth-year seniors. Two weeks ago, Smith became the fifth player in Hornet history, and 11th in Big Sky history, to reach 1,500 career kills. Volkmann has 1,198 kills, and is seeking to become the 17th Hornet to reach 1,200 kills.

From The Service Line

• The Hornets have been very good at the service line, currently ranking 27th in the nation in aces (113). That mark is tops in the Big Sky, as is the team's average of 1.92 aces per set (23rd in country).
• Smith ranks among the nation's top 20 players in both aces (11th, 33), and aces per set (18th, 0.56).
• The team has registered at least six aces in all but four matches. That includes a combined 25 aces in its three Big Sky matches.

Hornet Notables

• The Hornets have been very good in conference play thus far, dropping just two sets in their three matches. Sacramento State is hitting .295 while limiting the opposition to a .159 mark. In addition, a weakness early in the season - blocking - has turned into a strength. In fact, Sacramento State's average of 2.82 blocks per set is the second best mark in the Big Sky.
• Junior Karlie Spohn, in her first active season, has combined for 15 blocks in three Big Sky matches, including a season-high seven in just three sets vs. Portland State. Her average of 1.36 blocks per set in league ranks as the fourth best mark in the conference.
• Middle blocker Ashlynn Archer has hit above .300 in nine matches this year, and remains in seventh place in the Big Sky with a .311 hitting percentage.
• Over the last six matches rightside hitter Ellie Tisko is averaging 2.59 kills per set while hitting .311. That includes a career-best .700 hitting percentage (7-0-10) vs. Portland State. During that six-match span, she has tallied double digits in kills four times.