The Week Ahead - Big Sky Tournament

• Sacramento State (18-11, 11-5) will enter this week's Big Sky Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed after finishing in a tie for second place in the final league standings.
• The top eight teams in the 10-member conference qualify for the postseason event, which will take place Wednesday-Friday at the Nest. The Hornets earned the right to host the Big Sky Tournament after winning last year's regular season title.
• This year marks the 24th Big Sky Tourney appearance for the Hornets since joining the league in 1996.
• The tournament is single elimination. Wednesday features four quarterfinal games (10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm), followed by Thursday's semifinal matches (4 pm, 7 pm) and Friday's championship at 7 p.m.
• Sacramento State will open the tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m. vs. #6 Portland State. That will be the fourth and final quarterfinal match of the day. As long as Sacramento State remains in the tournament, the Hornets will get the 7 p.m. time slot each day.
• Other quarterfinal matches feature #4 Weber State vs. #5 Eastern Washington at 10 am, #1 Northern Colorado vs. #8 Montana State at 1 pm, and #2 Idaho State vs. #7 Northern Arizona at 4 pm. Northern Colorado won the Big Sky regular season title, and will host next year's postseason tournament.
• The winner of the Hornets/Portland State match will face the winner of Idaho State/Northern Arizona in Thursday's semifinal at 7 p.m.
• Sacramento State defeated Portland State in both meetings this year, sweeping the Vikings at the Nest on Oct. 4, and winning in four sets in Portland on Oct. 18.
• The winner of the Big Sky Tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, a place the Hornets haven't been since 2007. Weber State is the defending Big Sky Tourney champions.
• The NCAA Tournament's field of 64 has taken just one team from the Big Sky 24 consecutive years, making this event the only path for a Big Sky squad to qualify for the Big Dance.
• Sacramento State finished the regular season 18-11 overall, 11-5 in the Big Sky, and 9-2 at home. That includes a 6-2 record at home vs. Big Sky opposition (losses to Northern Colorado and Idaho State).
• The Hornets have posted 10+ conference wins five straight, and nine of the last 10 years.
• Each of the Hornets' last four matches of the regular season ended in four or five sets, including an emotional 3-2 Senior Night win over Weber State on Saturday in a match that lasted 2:36.
• The Hornets have not suffered a losing streak longer than two matches since 2022.
• In conference play, Sacramento State finished among the Big Sky's top three teams in every offensive category, including first in assists (12.72 aps) and aces (2.08 aps), and second in kills (14.57 kps).


Multimedia Options

• Every match of the Big Sky Tournament will air on ESPN+ with Will Schilling on the call.
• Links for video and live stats can be found at the Big Sky Tournament home page via bigskyconf.com.

Hornets At The Big Sky Tournament

• Currently in their 29th season in the Big Sky, the Hornets are making their 24th appearance at the Big Sky Tournament, and have posted a 26-14 record at the postseason event.
• The Hornets have won the Big Sky Tournament title nine times (1997-98, 2000, 2002-07).
• That included a run of 12 consecutive victories spanning six years from 2002-07.
• Of the team's 23 previous appearances at the tourney, Sacramento State has reached the championship match 12 times. The Hornets are 9-3 in those championship matches.
• Sacramento State has not qualified for a Big Sky championship since 2017 (3-2 loss to North Dakota at The Nest), and has not won a Big Sky Tourney title since 2007 (3-0 win over Portland State).
• Of the team's 23 appearances at the Big Sky Tournament, Sacramento State has failed to reach at least the semifinal round just five times (2008, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021).

vs. Tournament Field (this year, all-time, Big Sky Tournament)

• Of the seven opponents Sacramento State could face in the Big Sky Tournament, the Hornets beat every team during the regular season at least once except Idaho State (0-2).
• The Hornets are 24-11 in Big Sky Tourney play against the seven teams they could face.
• #1 Northern Colorado: 1-1 this year, 17-21 all-time, 3-2 in the Big Sky Tourney.
• #2 Idaho State: 0-2 this year, 42-18 all-time, 2-1 in the Big Sky Tourney
• #4 Weber State: 1-1 this year, 42-19 all-time, 0-1 in the Big Sky Tourney
• #5 Eastern Washington: 2-0 this year, 45-18 all-time, 9-1 in the Big Sky Tourney.
• #6 Portland State: 2-0 this year, 53-28 all-time, 2-2 in the Big Sky Tourney.
• #7 Northern Arizona: 2-0 this year, 44-24 all-time, 2-3 in the Big Sky Tourney.
• #8 Montana State: 2-0 this year, 51-12 all-time, 6-1 in the Big Sky Tourney.

Volta Receives Contract Extension

• Head coach Ruben Volta, in his 17th season with the program, received a three-year contract extension on Oct. 30. Volta has been named Big Sky Coach of the Year three times during his tenure, and has guided the team to 10+ conference wins nine of the last 10 years.
• Since 2015, the team is 183-120 overall, and 114-49 in Big Sky play. That includes a pair of conference regular season championships in 2017 and 2023.

Lineup Changes

• Sacramento State made a couple notable changes to its lineup in Saturday's win vs. Weber State.
• Reese Ampi, who had been sharing libero duties with Abbey Kadillak, took over as the team's full-time libero and responded with a career-high 24 digs. All season, the Hornets had used Ampi as the libero on serve, and Kadillak had been used as the libero on serve receive.
• For the first time this year, the Hornets used Ashlynn Archer as a rightside hitter in the team's 6-2 offense vs. Weber State. Archer had started every match she's played at middle blocker until the switch. Sacramento State started both Karlie Spohn and Skyler Gartin at middle blocker, and the pair combined for 11 kiils, eight blocks and a .526 hitting percentage (11-1-19). Archer took the spot of Greta Davis, who had played in 100 sets on the right side this season.

Outside Hitter Tandem Playing Big

• Starting outside hitters Bridgette Smith and Caitlin Volkmann have combined to make up the most prolific duo in the Big Sky Conference.
• They currently rank first and second in league play in kills per set, with Smith leading the way at 4.19 kps, followed by Volkmann (4.06 kps). No other player in the conference has more than 3.85 kps.
• In addition, Smith ranks first with 5.08 points per set, while Volkmann is third at 4.56 pps.
• Smith leads the conference (overall and league only) in three categories. Her overall numbers of 4.04 kills per set, 0.62 aces per set, and 4.81 points per set are all easily the top marks in the Big Sky.
• Smith now ranks fourth in the country with 65 aces, and sixth with 0.61 aces per set.
• Either Smith (16 times) or Volkmann (12 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.
• Smith has 1,752 career kills, and needs just 16 to move into sole possession of second place in school history. She is third all-time in aces (206), and also has 1,256 digs.
• Volkmann has 1,410 career kills, the eighth best mark in program history.