THE WEEK AHEAD

• Sacramento State (8-6, 1-1) enters the second week of Big Sky Conference play. The Hornets will play just one match - Friday on the road at Portland State (6-7, 2-0) at 7 p.m.
• The matchup at Portland State will be the first of three straight on the road for the Hornets - the team's longest road trip during conference play.
• In fact, if you count last week's results, Sacramento State will begin Big Sky play with four of its first five matches on the road.
• Sacramento State opened Big Sky play with a pair of sweeps - a road loss at Montana on Thursday, followed by a convincing home win over Weber State (25-14, 25-22, 25-12). The win over Weber was impressive as the Wildcats had been 9-4, and had just swept Northern Colorado three days earlier.
• Speaking of sweeps, the Hornets play a lot of three-set matches. Of the 14 matches so far, 10 have resulted in sweeps with Sacramento State 6-4 in those outcomes. The Hornets have only played one four setter (1-0) to go with three five setters (1-2).
• The Hornets have played just four true road matches, and are 1-3 in those contests. After winning their first roadie at Southern Utah (3-0), Sacramento State has fallen at Utah Tech (3-2), Boston College (3-0) and Montana (3-0).
• After the Hornets dropped their first three matches of the season, the team has won eight of its last 11. That three-match losing streak was the program's longest in three years (four straight in 2022).
• Portland State completed an impressive first week of the Big Sky season that saw the Vikings sweep both Idaho State at home, and Montana State on the road. 
• The win vs. Idaho State was their first of the season at home as the Vikings are 1-2 on the home floor, including five-set losses to both Oregon and Oregon State.
• Like the Hornets, Portland State dropped its first three matches of the season before righting the ship.
• Sacramento State and the Vikings played zero like opponents during non-conference play.
• Though the Hornets play four of their first five Big Sky matches on the road, the team's schedule does get friendlier as Sacramento State will play seven of its final 11 matches at home.
• The Hornets are attempting to defend their Big Sky Tournament championship from a year ago. Sacramento State also won the 2023 Big Sky regular season title.
• The Hornets have won at least nine conference matches each of the last 10 years. That includes 10-plus wins five consecutive seasons (11-5 a year ago).
• During the 10-year stretch, the Hornets have combined for a 115-50 league record.
• Also during that 10-year run, the Hornets are 70-12 in the Nest vs. Big Sky competition.
 
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• Every match the remainder of the season will stream on ESPN+.
• In addition, live stats are offered for every match.
• Games on ESPN+ can be found on watchespn.com and the ESPN app.
• Multimedia links can be found next to each match on the volleyball schedule at hornetsports.com.

AGAINST THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT

• Sacramento State's 82 meetings vs. Portland State are tied for the longest rivalry against any team in program history. The Hornets have also played UC Davis 82 times, and coincidentally, are 54-28 against both the Vikings and Aggies.
• The Hornets won all three meetings a year ago, dropping just two sets in the process. That includes a 3-1 victory against the Vikings in the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinals at the Nest on Nov. 27.
• Prior to last season, however, Portland State had won four of the last five in the series.
• Sacramento State is 18-15 when playing the Vikings in Portland, and the Vikings have won three of the last five meetings on their home floor.
• The Hornets' series vs. Portland State dates all the way back to 1979 when Sacramento State won the first meeting (2-1) on Oct. 6, 1979, in Berkeley. Forty-six years later, the teams have played 82 times.

AMONG THE CONFERENCE AND NATION'S BEST

• Senior middle blocker Ashlynn Archer has been incredible this season, and has established herself as one of the top players in the Big Sky Conference.
• Among Big Sky leaders, she ranks first in hitting percentage (.462), sixth in points (3.73 pps), and 10th in blocks (1.00 bps). Her 3.02 kills per set sits just outside the Big Sky's top 10 in kills.
• The hitting percentage is fifth best in the nation, as Archer has an incredible streak of hitting better than .475 in eight of her last nine matches.
• A middle blocker with more than three kills per set is rare, and Archer is at 3.02. In fact, the last Sacramento State middle blocker to average more than three kills per set was Lindsay Haupt (3.67) during a 2007 season in which she was named the Big Sky MVP.

FINAL SEASON IN THE BIG SKY

• This year marks the Hornets' 30th in the Big Sky Conference (1996-pres.), but will also serve as the team's last. In June, Sacramento State announced that it will join the Big West Conference as a full member beginning in the 2026-27 academic year. 
• In 2026, the Hornets will join a Big West lineup that includes California Baptist, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, CSUN, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and Utah Valley.
• During the Hornets' stay in the Big Sky, the program has won 14 regular season and/or tournament championships.
• The Hornets are coming off a 2024 season in which the team won the Big Sky Conference Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Sacramento State, which finished 21-12 overall and 11-5 in league, has won at least 10 conference matches five straight, and nine of the last 10 years.

NEWCOMER PAYING HUGE DIVIDENDS

• A transfer from Weber State, sophomore outside hitter Victoria Marthaler has made a massive impact during her first season with the Hornets.
• Marthaler, a six-rotation player, has been extremely valuable in helping overcome the losses of first team all-conference outside hitters Bridgette Smith and Caitlin Volkmann. In fact, she is currently second in the Big Sky in both kills (4.20 kps) and points (4.72 pps).
• A starter in every match, Marthaler has led the team in kills in all but two matches, which includes a career-high 26 vs. Fresno State in just four sets. In two matches last week vs. Big Sky opponents, she averaged a whopping 5.83 kills per set, breaking down to 25 kills in just six sets.

NOTABLES

Libero Reese Ampi is third in the Big Sky with 4.20 digs per set, and has led the team in digs in all but two matches…freshman outside hitter Keonahi'ilani Solaita has become a fixture in the Hornets' starting lineup, and has been outstanding over the last two weeks. In the Hornets' last four matches, she is averaging 2.85 kills and 1.69 digs per set to go with a .361 hitting percentage. She has established a new career best in kills in each of her last three matches, including 11 vs. Weber State…setter Kate Doorn, one of three team captains (Ashlynn Archer, Greta Davis), ranks fourth in the Big Sky in assists (8.16 per set) and eighth in aces (0.37 per set).