The Sacramento State volleyball team made an impressive statement to the rest of the Big Sky Conference last weekend, sweeping past both Portland State University and Eastern Washington University.

The two lopsided victories moved the Hornets atop the Big Sky Conference with a 6-1 record, 12-5 overall. Sac State shares the top spot with Weber State University, which will visit Hornet gym Friday, in a showdown for Big Sky supremacy.

Sac State began their road trip with a 3-0 (30-23, 30-16, 30-25) victory over Portland State. The Hornets went on to beat Eastern Washington 30-23, 30-23, 30-24 the following evening.

Against Portland State, the Hornets dominated offensively, hitting .340, their second highest hitting percentage this season. Senior Tazman Dwyer led the way with 14 kills and hit a season-high .600.

The senior committed just two errors in 20 opportunities, a statistic head coach Debby Colberg was impressed with.

“Taz, she really got it going,” Colberg said. “We are going to be tough to beat if we play with this type of offensive balance. We were already a fine defensive team, but now to add this extra dimension, we?ll be tough.”

Dwyer received plenty of help from junior Jayme Wright, sophomore Kazmiera Imrie and setter Lisa Beauchene.Wright recorded a match-high 13 digs and Imrie added eight kills. Beauchene hit .600, recorded six kills, blocked four shots and had 38 assists.

“Kaz has been coming around as we?ve expected, and Beauchene had an incredible game as well,” Colberg said.

Offensive balance was also the theme against Eastern Washington.

The Hornets hit .304 for the three-set match and held the advantage in kills 49-44, digs 42-37 and team blocks 7-3.

“This was probably our most complete game,” Colberg said. “Again, we were very balanced, and we played error-free volleyball.

A balanced offense makes everyone a threat on the court and switches an opponent?s focus from one or two players to four or five players.

“We could really talk about how Imrie, Wright, Dwyer, Gahr and Beauchene played. We were that balanced,” Colberg said.

Wright recorded a match-high 13 kills along with 11 digs. Dwyer hit .556 and added 11 kills.

The Hornets have won five matches in a row including 15 consecutive games during the span.

“That is almost mind boggling,” Colberg said. “We are starting to get into a certain rhythm on offense so everything is coming around.”

That could be a bad omen for the next two opponents (Weber State and Idaho State University) coming to Hornet Gym.

“Friday is the big one, but really, I believe this race will come down to the final weekend between NAU, Weber State and us,” Colberg said.

The Weber State match will start at 7 p.m. Friday. The Hornets will face Idaho State Saturday at 4 p.m.