THE WEEK AHEAD

• After 12 non-league matches, Sacramento State (7-5) will jump into the Big Sky Conference portion of the schedule this week. The next 16 Hornet matches will be against Big Sky foes leading up to the conference tournament in Greeley, Colo., on Nov. 24-26.
• The Hornets open league with a road matchup at Montana (8-3) on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT, followed by a home game vs. Weber State (8-4) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
• The Hornets, Wildcats and Grizzlies are three of the Big Sky's four teams that will carry a record above the .500 mark heading into conference play. Northern Arizona (10-3) is the other.
• Four of the Hornets' first five conference matches will take place on the road, as Saturday will be the only matchup in the Nest for three weeks.
• Winners of four straight, and seven of the last nine, the Hornets will enter the conference slate with a record above .500 for the second straight year. Sacramento State was 7-6 last season.
• Sacramento State is coming off a Central Cal Challenge championship at home in which the Hornets dropped just one set in victories over CSU Bakersfield (3-0), Pacific (3-0) and Fresno State (3-1).
• Middle blocker Ashlynn Archer was named the tournament MVP while outside hitter Victoria Marthaler and setter Kate Doorn were also named all-tournament.
• Speaking of Marthaler, the sophomore will see her old team this week as she is a transfer from Weber State. The outside hitter is currently second in the Big Sky in kills (3.98 kps) and points (4.51 pps).
• Montana enters Thursday with an eight-match winning streak, tied for the 13th longest active streak in the nation. Both the Hornets and Grizzlies dropped their first three matches of the season, but have caught fire since. Montana has yet to lose at home (3-0) this year.
• Weber State opened the season by winning eight of its first nine matches, but went 0-3 in the state of Utah last week, including losses to BYU (3-0), Utah Valley (3-1) and Utah State (3-0). All four of the Wildcats' losses have come to teams from Utah (including 3-0 at Utah Tech). Weber State is 3-1 at home.
• The Hornets will attempt 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 114-49 league record.
• Also during that 10-year run, the Hornets are 69-12 in the Nest vs. Big Sky competition.
• There are 10 teams in the Big Sky. Each team will play 16 conference matches. Sacramento State will play seven of those teams twice, and once vs. Eastern Washington and Idaho State.

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 OPPONENTS

• The Hornets are 40-16 all-time vs. Montana, and last year's 3-2 loss in Missoula snapped a six-match winning streak against the Grizzlies. 
• Sacramento State is 16-11 in matches at Missoula, and the two teams always seem to play close on Montana's home floor. Ten of the last 12 meetings in Missoula have resulted in 3-1 or 3-2 scores.
• At one point during the series, the Hornets won 18 straight over Montana between 1999 and 2008.
• The Hornets are 42-19 all-time against Weber State, but the Wildcats have won three of the last four, and eight of the last 11 in the series.
• Each of the last three, and four of the last five meetings have been decided by 3-2 scores.
• Sacramento State is 22-5 at home vs. Weber State, but has split the last four meetings in the Nest.

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 (.473), fourth in points (3.91 pps), seventh in kills (3.19 kps) and eighth in blocks (1.05 bps).
• The hitting percentage is sixth best in the nation, as Archer has an incredible streak of hitting better than .475 in each of the last seven matches.
• A middle blocker with more than three kills per set is rare, and Archer is at 3.19. In fact, she is the only player that ranks among the Big Sky's top 10 in kills that is not an outside hitter.
• 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 huge 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 (3.95 kps) and points (4.51 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. 
• During her freshman season at Weber State, her season high for kills was 11 on two occasions. She has already eclipsed that mark seven times this season. 

NOTABLES

Libero Reese Ampi is third in the Big Sky with 4.28 digs per set, and saw her streak of 11 straight matches with 10+ digs come to an end with eight vs. Fresno State…Skyler Gartin, who has battled injuries all season, was back in the starting lineup vs. Fresno State, and responded with five kills, three blocks and a .444 hitting percentage. At last week's tournament, she averaged 1.86 kps with a .632 hitting percentage (13-1-19)…setter Kate Doorn (fifth in the Big Sky with 7.79 aps) quarterbacked the Hornets to a combined hitting percentage of .362 during team's three Central Cal Challenge wins.