Volleyball wins two

With only one week remaining in the regular season, the Hornets will need two wins and an Eastern Washington loss in order to grab the No.1 seed in the Big Sky Tournament next weekend.

The Hornets (18-7, 11-3) trail the Eagles by one game as both teams won both of their games over the weekend. Sac State picked up conference wins over Montana and Idaho State to keep on pace with Eastern Washington (22-4, 12-2), a team the Hornets split their match-ups with this season.

“Our chances of getting the top seed are good,” senior Angela Lewis said. “The chances of us taking care of our own games is pretty high. We just need to wait for Eastern Washington to lose.”

Securing first place in the conference would allow the Hornets to host the tournament, which brings many advantages.

“Having the home court is the biggest advantage to hosting the tournament,” Lewis said. “You’re playing at home, there is no travel, and you know where you’re sleeping at night.”

Due to tiebreaker rules, the Hornets need Montana State to defeat the Eagles this weekend and Sac State head coach Debby Colberg believes Montana State has a good chance of doing so.

“There is an intense rivalry between the two teams,” Colberg said. “They are also playing in Montana which will give them an advantage, but Eastern Washington plays with a lot of poise.”

All of this is unnecessary if the Hornets do not hold up their end of the deal. Lewis has confidence that the Hornets will win both games this weekend, but Colberg believes that nothing is guaranteed.

“We are playing Northern Arizona who is in third place right behind us,” Colberg said. “Then we face Northridge who is in a must-win situation in their fight for the sixth spot. They are a better team than their record. They are playing well as of late and are starting to gel together.”

While the team may face some tough competition this weekend, Colberg believes her team is peaking at the right time.

“We are playing much more consistent now than we were in the beginning of the season,” she said. “We made a lot of unforced errors in the beginning of the season that we’re not doing now.”

This week, the Hornets committed only 42 errors compared to their opponent’s total of 68.

The Hornets faced Montana on Thursday and were led by the current Big Sky Player of the Week, Tasman Dwyer. She had a match-high hitting percentage of .552 and recorded 17 kills and nine blocks in the Hornets 3-0 win (15-5, 15-12, 15-10).

“She is just getting better and better,” Colberg said of Dwyer. “She’s always played well at home, and now she is coming up big on the road as well.”

While Lewis recorded her 18th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 16 digs against Montana, it was her serving that impressed Colberg the most. Colberg said Lewis’ ability to mix up short and long serves kept the Grizzlies on their heels throughout the match.

Lewis had another big performance against Idaho State on Saturday, leading the Hornets to a 3-1 victory (13-15, 15-12, 15-7, 15-7).

Recording another double-double, Lewis had 22 kills and 16 digs, helping the Hornets bounce back after dropping the first match.

“She played exceptionally well against Idaho State,” Colberg said. “She had some kills at important junctions in the game. She came up big whenever we were in a jam.”

The Hornets face two must wins this week when they host Northern Arizona on Thursday and Cal State Northridge on Saturday.