THE WEEK AHEAD

• Sacramento State (10-9, 5-3) will play a home and home over three days against Utah Valley (5-15, 3-5). The two teams will play Thursday at the Nest at 7 p.m., followed by a Saturday matchup in Orem, Utah, at 12 p.m. PT.
• After Thursday's match, the Hornets will have reached the midway point of the conference season. Of the first nine conference matches, Sacramento State will have played seven at home. However, over the last nine league matches, seven will come on the road.
• After this week, the Hornets have just two home matches left - Nov. 5 and Nov. 7.
• Sacramento State (5-3) sits in a two-way tie for fifth place in the Big West standings, just one game back of three teams at 6-2. Everyone is chasing Cal Poly who has yet to lose in conference play (8-0).
• The top six teams in the Big West qualify for the conference tournament, which will take place Nov. 25-28 in San Luis Obispo.
• Both matches this week, and every match the rest of the season, will stream on ESPN+.
• Sacramento State is 6-3 at home this season, and 3-3 in league play. Those three losses have come to first-place Cal Poly, and a pair of second place teams in Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara.
• The Hornets are 3-2 on the road, including a 2-0 mark in league play. Those two wins came against second-place UC Irvine (6-2), and UC San Diego (5-3) which is currently tied with the Hornets.
• The Hornets lost Saturday vs. Long Beach State after winning its previous three matches by 3-1 scores.
• Sacramento State and Utah Valley have played just twice with the Wolverines winning both of those matchups. In fact, the Hornets have not won a set against Utah Valley. The Wolverines swept the Hornets in Fresno in 2012, and in Moraga in 2011. 
• Utah Valley and Sacramento State, along with California Baptist, are brand new to the Big West.
• Sacramento State spent the previous 30 seasons in the Big Sky, while Utah Valley came over from the Western Athletic Conference.
• One milestone has been achieved, and two more are within reach. Libero Reese Ampi registered her 1,000th career dig two weeks ago and now has 1,055. Setter Makenna Wiepert, a transfer from UTSA, is just eight assists shy of 1,500 for her career. Outside hitter Victoria Marthaler has 932 kills as she will attempt to become the 27th player in school history to notch 1,000 kills.
• Sacramento State has racked up seven Big West Player of the Week awards, including two each for Marthaler (offensive), Wiepert (setter) and middle blocker Skyler Gartin (defensive), and one for middle blocker Nikola Gamlin (rookie). 

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• Every match the remainder of the season will stream on ESPN+ and have live stats. Home matches feature 10th-year play-by-play man Will Schilling on the call alongside analyst and Sacramento State men's club volleyball Hall of Famer Mark Harrison.
• Links for video and live stats are next to each game on the volleyball schedule at hornetsports.com.

NEW CONFERENCE

• After 30 years in the Big Sky (1996-25), the team has transitioned to its first year in the Big West. Gone are out-of-state conference road trips to Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, Washington and Oregon. In fact, of the team's nine road matches in Big West play, eight will be played in California.
• In its 30 years in the Big Sky, Sacramento State ripped off 10 regular season titles, and 10 tournament crowns. In conference play, the Hornets were 326-147 (.689 win%) against Big Sky opposition.

POTENT IN THE MIDDLE

• The Hornets' middle blocker tandem of junior Skyler Gartin and freshman Nikola Gamlin has been lethal. The two have combined to form one of the more formidable middle duos in the Big West.
• Both rank in the Big West's top five in hitting percentage as Gartin is third with a .387 and Gamlin fourth with a .383. Together, they are hitting .385 with 274 kills in 556 swings.
• In conference play, Gartin is second with a .486 hitting percentage, and Gamlin eighth with a .379.
• The two have started all 19 matches - Gamlin has averages of 1.88 kills and 0.73 blocks per set. Gartin is averaging 1.80 kills and 1.20 blocks per set, and leads the Big West with 1.37 bps in conference play.
• Gartin's .889 hitting percentage (8-0-9) vs. UC Riverside is the fourth best mark in program history, while Gamlin owns the sixth best mark with her .857 (12-0-14) at San Jose State.
• Gartin has hit above .420 in five straight matches - averaging 2.21 kps and a .534 hit% over that span.

AMPI NOTCHES 1,000 DIGS

• Libero Reese Ampi, in her third season with the Hornets after transferring from American River Junior College, collected her 1,000th kill at UC San Diego, and now has 1,055 during her Hornet career.
• She became the 30th player in program history to reach the milestone.
• Ampi has started each of her three seasons at Sacramento State as the team's libero, and was named the Big Sky's Libero of the Year in 2025. She is fourth in the Big West with 3.50 dps in league play.

MARTHALER HAVING ANOTHER BIG SEASON

• Six-rotation outside hitter Victoria Marthaler is currently having a second straight big season.
• Last year, she was honorable mention All-America, Big Sky MVP, all-Pacific Region, first team all-Big Sky, and Big Sky all-tournament. She was also selected Big West preseason all-conference this year.
• Marthaler ranked sixth in the nation a year ago with 4.89 kills per set, and seventh in the country with 5.38 points per set. She upped that average to a ridiculous 5.72 kills per set in conference play.
• This season, she has been named all-tournament three times, and currently ranks 11th in the nation with 313 kills, and 18th in the country with 350.5 points. She also has 932 career kills.
• She ranks second in Big West in both kills per set (4.12) and points per set (4.61).
• Marthaler has registered double figures in kills in 36 of her last 37 matches, and posted 16+ kills in each of the last four matches.

FROM THE SERVICE LINE

• Sacramento State's 132 aces rank 13th in the nation. The Hornets have posted double-figure aces eight times, including 15 last week vs. Cal State Fullerton - tied for second most in program history.
• The Hornets have four players ranking among the Big West's top 20 in aces per set, including two of the top three leaders - Amy Ito (2nd with 0.43 aps) and Makenna Wiepert (3rd with 0.42 aps).

WIEPERT HAVING QUITE THE DEBUT

• Junior setter Makenna Wiepert, a transfer from UTSA, is having a very impressive debut season with the Hornets. That includes being named Big West Setter of the Week on two occasions.
• She has averages of 9.12 assists, 2.49 digs, 0.38 blocks and 0.42 aces per set. She also has a team-best 10 double-doubles. She is just eight assists shy of 1,500 for her career (693 at SAC, 799 at UTSA).        

QUICK HITS

Hornets are 10-3 when hitting above .200, and 0-6 when hitting below…Hornets are 6-1 when finishing with 10+ team blocks…153 aces are 30 more than any other Big West team…Amy Ito is averaging one ace per 7.3 serves, and has at least three aces on six occasions…the Hornets have the third highest ranking among Big West teams in the RPI - Long Beach State (55), Cal Poly (103) and Hornets (158).