THE WEEK AHEAD

• Sacramento State (3-3) enters the third week of the 2026 season, and will travel to The Gem State to compete in the Boise State Invitational from Thursday-Saturday.
• The Hornets are coming off a 3-0 record and Sacramento State Invitational championship. The Hornets won their own tournament after beating Nevada (3-2), Texas Tech (3-0) and Saint Mary's (3-2).
• This week's four-team tournament will be played at ExtraMile Arena on the Boise State campus.
• The Hornets will play Boise State on Thursday at 5 p.m. PT, Eastern Washington on Friday at 2:30 p.m. PT, and Saturday vs. Saint Mary's at 10 a.m. PT.
• All matches will have a live stream on YouTube, and live stats will be provided.
• The matchup with Eastern Washington will be strange playing the Eagles in non-league after playing EWU twice a year in the Big Sky Conference for 30 years. The Hornets left the Big Sky to join the Big West this season. The Hornets and Eagles played in the Big Sky Tournament championship match eight times in those 30 seasons, with Sacramento State winning seven of those meetings.
• In addition, the Hornets will play Saint Mary's for the second time in eight days as Sacramento State defeated the Gaels in five sets on Saturday in the Sacramento State Invitational championship match.
• The Hornets' three opponents enter the week with a combined 11-7 record. That includes Boise State (3-3), Eastern Washington (5-1) and Saint Mary's (3-3). Boise State hosts BYU on Tuesday night.
• Sacramento State opened the season with three close losses in Pepperdine to teams that each finished last year among the top 45 teams in the nation in the final RPI.
• The Hornets are 5-5 all-time against the Broncos, and have never won in Boise (0-3). The last matchup resulted in a 3-0 Hornet win in the Nest in 2021. Each of the teams' last three meetings have resulted in three-set sweeps. Of the 10 meetings, seven have been settled via sweep.
• In one of its longest rivalries, Sacramento State is 47-18 all-time vs. Eastern Washington. Amazingly, this will be just the second meeting on a neutral floor. The lone neutral match came in 3-2 Hornet win in the 2016 Big Sky Tournament quarterfinals in Grand Forks, N.D. Overall, the Hornets have won 10 straight meetings in the series with the last EWU victory coming in 2019.
• The Hornets are 29-11 all-time vs. Saint Mary's, including a 2-2 mark on a neutral floor. The last neutral floor matchup came in a 3-1 Gael victory in Berkeley in 2004. 
• Thursday's victory over Nevada gave head coach Ruben Volta his 300th career victory. In his 19th season, Volta is now 302-262. That includes 20-plus wins each of the last three seasons. Volta has been a member of the Hornet coaching staff for 26 years, beginning as a volunteer assistant in 2000.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• All three matches the Hornets play this week in Boise will be streamed on YouTube.
• Links for video and live stats can be found 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.

THIS YEAR'S ROSTER

• Sacramento State is equipped with 10 returners and four starters from last year's 20-win squad.
• Among this year's returners are starters at outside hitter (Victoria Marthaler, Keonahi'ilani Solaita), middle blocker (Skyler Gartin) and libero (Reese Ampi).
• Marthaler was Big Sky MVP and honorable mention All-America, Solaita was the Big Sky Freshman of the Year, and Ampi was the Big Sky Libero of the Year.
• Both Marthaler and Ampi are this year's team captains.
• The team did lose three starters, including a pair of first team all-conference selections in setter Kate Doorn and middle blocker Ashlynn Archer. Doorn, however, remains with the program as the reigning Big Sky Setter of the Year enters her first season as assistant coach with the Hornets.
• The team's roster features 15 players (five newcomers). Of those 15 players, only five are upperclassmen. The roster breaks down to a pair of seniors, three juniors, six sophomores and four freshmen.

PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF

• Six-rotation outside hitter Victoria Marthaler, coming off a huge season, has been named all-tournament at both tourneys this season. That includes a co-MVP choice at the Sacramento State Invite.
• 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.
• Despite missing a good portion of the Hornets' preseason practices with injury, Marthaler has posted at least 13 kills in all six matches. That includes 18+ kills in all three Sacramento State Invite matches.
• 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.
• She is currently third in the Big West in kills (4.00 kps) and fourth in points (4.59 pps).

IMPRESSIVE HORNET DEBUTS

• Sacramento State has been starting a trio of newcomers through the first two weeks.
• Junior setter Makenna Wiepert, a transfer from UTSA, has double-doubles in five of the Hornets' first six matches. She currently ranks second in the Big West with 8.37 assists per set, and ninth with 0.40 aces per set. She has also quarterbacked an offense that currently ranks second in the Big West in points (16.56 pps) and hitting percentage (.236), and fourth in kills (12.41 kps).
• Freshman middle blocker Nikola Gamlin continues to impress. She ranks sixth in the Big West with a .345 hitting percentage and is averaging 2.04 kills and 0.81 blocks per set. She has registered double-figure kills in three of her last four matches, including a season-best 11 vs. Saint Mary's.
• Freshman rightside Mia Molnar has at least three blocks in five straight matches, including five vs. both Pepperdine and Saint Mary's. Molnar is averaging 1.37 kills and 0.78 blocks per set. In Saturday's win over the Gaels, Molnar posted season highs in kills (9), hitting percentage (.389) and blocks (5).

NOTABLES

The Hornets rank first in the Big West and seventh in the nation with 56 aces…the 2.07 aces per set easily leads the conference and ranks 29th in the country…on Monday, the Hornets won two Big West Player of the Week awards - Victoria Marthaler was offensive, and Skyler Gartin defensive…Gartin is sixth (1.15 bps) in the Big West in blocks, and eighth (.340) in hitting percentage. Her 13 blocks vs Saint Mary's tied for third most in the Hornets' Div. I era (1991-pres)…libero Reese Ampi has 20+ digs in two of her last three matches, and now has 12 career matches with 20+…four of the team's six matches have gone to five sets (2-2 in those outcomes)…Eleanor Weeks is averaging one ace per 6.9 service attempts, the best ratio on the team…after battling injury during preseason practices and the first week of the season, sophomore outside hitter Keonahi'ilani Solaita looked good in an 11-kill, 14 dig performance vs. Saint Mary's…sophomore Charlee Lepp saw her streak of 9+ kills in five straight matches come to an end vs. Saint Mary's…that included 14 (.379 hit%) in three sets vs. Texas Tech.