The Sacramento State women’s volleyball team went 1-1 during last weekend’s road trip, assuring that the Big Sky Conference’s postseason tournament will be held in a place other than Hornet Gym for the first time in six years.

The University of Eastern Washington defeated Sac State 3-0 on Friday night in front of a record crowd of 1,924 in Cheney, Wash. With the win, they secured the regular season championship and home court advantage in the tournament, scheduled to be held Nov. 21-23.

By beating Sac State, the Eagles avenged their only loss of the season, a three-game sweep at the hands of the Hornets on Oct. 19.

Sac State head coach Debby Colberg was positive despite the loss.

“I didn’t think we played poorly,” Colberg said. “Eastern just played a much different game than they did when they were here. They executed probably as well as they are capable of.”

The Eagles led the Hornets in kills (56-40), digs (66-53) and hitting percentage (.256-.131). They also committed fewer errors (15-21).

The Eagles’ Janelle Ruen posted 16 kills and 18 digs.

Teammates Monica Lynch and Megan Kitterman had 11 kills each. Andrea Verdolak had 15 digs for the Eagles and Kristy Chester contributed 11.

Sophomore outside hitter Sandra Bandimere was the only Sac State player to reach double figures in kills with 14. Senior outside hitter Jayme Wright was the only player to get to double figures in digs with 11. She was one kill short of a double-double with nine.

“We forced them into some problems passing the ball, but they always seemed to be there to dig our balls and were much quicker than we were,” Colberg said. “I don’t think we were aware of how different (Eastern Washington) would be at home.”

Though the loss might have been difficult to take, Sac State had no time to dwell on it.

They traveled to Oregon to take on Portland State.

The Hornets won the match 3-0. It was a match they had to win to secure a No. 2 seed in the tournament and a first-round bye.

In stark contrast to the night before, the Hornets led in just about every statistical category.

They hit .346 compared to Portland State’s .197. They also led in kills (59-41), digs (55-47), assists (57-39) and blocks (8.0-6.0).

“The match went pretty well, considering how things went against Eastern Washington,” Colberg said. “It seemed easier to play, almost like slow motion.”

Individually, several Hornets performed better as well.

Bandimere again led the team in kills with 13. Wright had 12 kills and 11 digs while Imrie had 11 kills and 11 digs.

Junior setter Lisa Beauchene had a match-high .769 hitting percentage to go with 10 kills and 44 assists. The freshman defensive specialist rebounded from a sub-par game against Eastern Washington to contribute 14 digs.