Fall sports season offers promise, challenges

As new recruits and veteran players take to the track, the field and the court this season, here’s what to look for from the Sacramento State Hornets:

Football
Sacramento State returns nine all-Big Sky Conference selections from last year, led by sophomore running back Ryan Mole. The Santa Maria, Calif., native amassed 858 yards last season in just nine games en route to being named tri-Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year. Other notables on the offense include senior offensive linemen Dustin Nicolodi and Chris Samuels.

The defense will be anchored by seniors Jacob Houston, Matt Logue and Brandon Smith as well as sophomores Brett Shelton and Brent Webber. Houston led the conference in sacks last season and was a second team all-league selection. Logue is the leading returning tackler after tallying 89 stops in 2004. Smith, Shelton and Webber all return to start in the secondary.

The team, however, will face one of its most difficult schedules in school history. The Hornets open the year at Cal on Sept. 3 before traveling to Cal Poly on Sept. 10 and Portland State on Sept. 17. The first home game will come on Sept. 24 against UC Davis.

Volleyball
The Sacramento State volleyball team finds itself in a familiar position entering the 2005 campaign. For the second-straight season, the Hornets will need to find a replacement for two first team all-Big Sky Conference selections and will turn the offense over to a new setter.

However, history has been on Sacramento State's side as the team has won eight-straight Big Sky Conference regular season and/or tournament championships, and has not lost a regular-season conference match on its home floor since 1999 (a span of 40-consecutive victories).

Debby Colberg, who is entering her 30th season as the Hornets' head coach and has compiled a 743-269 record over that span, believes there is no reason why the team won't continue a journey that has seen Sacramento State reach the NCAA Tournament seven times in the last eight years.

Colberg will turn to an experienced roster which includes eight returning letterwinners (including seven upperclassmen) and a talented recruiting class of four players. Among those four is freshman setter Rose Burke, who was a four-time all-state selection at Gainesville High School in Florida, and is the biggest key to the season according to Colberg.

This year's offensive production could come from any number of returning players including sophomores Jennifer Ferguson and Lindsay Haupt, juniors Atlee Hubbard and Shannon Roland, and seniors Shannon Arts and Natalie Melcher.

Men's Soccer
The 2005 men's soccer season promises to be exciting with the return of two all-conference performers, goalkeeper Matt McDougall and defender Utodi Madu, and last season's leading scorer, Ryan Rhoads.

After a third-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2004, the Hornets and head coach Michael Linenberger look to improve with the addition of the program's best recruiting class in the team's history.

The defense will boast McDougall, who spent every minute of last season in the net for the Hornets and finished 11th in the nation with 109 saves. Madu will control the back line in his junior season alongside newcomer Jeff Buddenbohn, an All-American out of St. Francis High School.

Seniors Marco Ramirez and Ricky Rodriguez, who combined for five goals and 10 assists in 2004, will once again control the central midfield. Rhoads, who led the team with eight goals last year, will team with newcomer Oscar Sandoval on the forward line.

The program's recruiting class also includes local products Josh Zimbrich of Del Oro High School and Zach Tuss of Natomas High School.

Women's Soccer
Second-year head coach Katie Poynter is well on her way to getting the women's soccer program headed in the right direction with the addition of her first recruiting class. The seven-member class includes players from some of the top club teams in Southern California and was voted second in the Big Sky Conference by Soccer Buzz Magazine.

In addition to top recruits, all three of the Hornets' all-Big Sky performers are returning for the 2005 season. The team's playmaker and leading scorer, senior midfielder Linda Sanchez, returns for her final season after putting up two goals and three assists in 2004.

Sophomore Katie McCoy, who recorded two goals and two assists in her first collegiate season and also was the first Hornet to receive Big Sky second team honors since 2001, returns to the team with sophomore Rebeccah Phillips and junior Maggie Murphy in the midfield.

Defender Natalia Romo earned her first conference honors after being a solid performer on the back line last season and she returns along with senior captain and central defender Mandi Siller.

Cross Country
The men's cross country team returns two of its brightest young runners from last season in Dominic Vogl and Vince D'Onofrio. The pair both made immediate impacts during their freshman season and will look to serve as the leaders this season. Vogl was the fastest Hornet in two meets last season and never finished lower than second on the team. D'Onofrio came on at the end of the season and progressed during the outdoor track and field season.

Virginia Grillo and Gabrielle Hernandez will pace the women's team. Grillo was the fastest Hornet in the first six meets before Hernandez edged her in the final meet. A senior, Grillo returns for her fourth cross country season, making her the most experienced member of the team.

— Sports Information