The Hornets will face Santa Clara (26-4), in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the San Jose Event Center. This is the fourth consecutive year that Sac State has made the tournament.

For the third time in four years, Sac State volleyball won the Big Sky, defeating Eastern Washington 15-6, 15-13, 15-4 on Nov. 18 at Hornet Gym.

The Hornets (21-11), pulled off the three game sweep, enabling the players to savor the win in front of its home crowd.

Junior Tasman Dwyer, along with the rest of her teammates, were ecstatic winning the tournament.

“It feels awesome,” Dwyer said. “It’s the best thing ever.”

The Hornets outplayed Eastern Washington, and led in every statistical category including kills, hitting percentage, assists, digs, and team blocks.

Sac State started off the match, defeating Eastern Washington 15-6. The Hornets jumped out to a 6-1 advantage, and Eastern Washington never got within five points for the remainder of the game.

Esther Rogers felt as if the team came out ready to play, and was ready to clinch the tournament.

“We were hyped, but not too hyped in warm-ups,” Rogers said. “The defense was amazing. It was so sweet to be at home.”

Head coach Debby Colberg thought that her team came out and was ready to play.

“They (Hornets) came out and I think they stunned Eastern Washington,” Colberg said.

The second game was the complete opposite of the output that the Hornets came out with. Sac State was down 10-0 early, but was able to string together five points, to cut the lead in half.

Eastern Washington pushed the lead to 11-5, before the Hornets reeled off six straight points to tie the game at 11-11.

Eastern Washington took the lead at 13-11, then the Hornets inched within one before scoring three consecutive points to close the game out a 15-13 winner.

Colberg believed that the Hornets showed poise coming from behind to win the game.

“I was pleased with the composure the team showed in the second game,” Colberg said. “Being up 10-0 (EWU) and losing, it’s demoralizing having that happen to you. That was the nail in the coffin.”

Dwyer said that the team wasn’t expecting Eastern Washington to come out and play like that in the second game.

“It was kind of a let up,” Dwyer said. “We weren’t expecting them to come out like that. We came back and handled business.”

The third game belonged to the Hornets right from the start. After leading 9-4, Sac State was able to put together nine straight points to win 15-4.

Dwyer’s 17 kills and six blocks led the Hornets, with junior Jayme Wright adding 12 kills. Freshman Lisa Beauchene added five kills, 32 assists, 10 digs and one block. Beauchene was named tournament MVP. Joining Beauchene for all-tournament selections were Dwyer and Rogers.

The win was Colberg’s 650th career win, pushing her overall record to 650-227.

The win gave the Hornets an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The team hopes to advance well within the tournament, something it has never done. The Hornets have never advanced past the second round in the NCAA Tournament.

“Hopefully we will do better than we have done,” Rogers said. “We want to make a mark.”

Colberg said she would like to see her team do well in the NCAA Tournament.

“We get this far every year,” Colberg said. “We would like to do some damage.”

The Hornets open the tournament tomorrow at the San Jose Event Center, as they face Santa Clara at 7 p.m.