An NCAA tournament berth is at stake this week at the Big SkyConference volleyball tournament.

The conference tournament begins Thursday in Cheney, Wash. andthe winner will receive an automatic bid to the the Big Dance.

By virtue of their second place regular season finish, theHornets have a bye in the first round and will play the highestremaining seed on Friday.

No. 6 Portland State &- The Vikings have lost 21 straightmatches to the Hornets. They will have to lean heavily on RichellWilson, whose 33 kills over two matches against the Hornets led theteam.

No. 5 Northern Arizona &- The Lumberjacks split two matcheswith Sac State this season and their victory on Oct. 25 is largelyresponsible for the Hornets’ second place finish in thestandings. Ellie Butterfield posted 33 kills , including 24 in thewin.

No. 4 Montana State &- Sac State swept the Montana schoolsthis season for the first time since 1999. The Bobcats are led byMegan Zanto.

No. 3 Idaho State &- As Alison Gorny goes, so go theBengals. Gorny combined for 29 kills over two matches against SacState.

“We’ve got to be careful not to take themlightly,” Colberg said. “We’ve beaten them twice,but there’s a chance that they’ll have some confidenceafter getting a third shot at us.”

No. 1 Eastern Washington &- Keva Sonderen and Courtney Bushcombined for 44 kills against the Hornets this season and MeganKitterman provided strong support. The Eagles will also have home-court advantage.

“Eastern is strong where we are weak,” Colberg said.”To beat them, we have to be at the very top of ourgame.”

Before the Hornets could start thinking about the playoffs theyhad to finish the regular season with consecutive nights on theroad against Weber State University and Idaho State University.

Sac State defeated both schools in 3-0 sweeps thanks in largepart to the performance of outside hitter Sandra Bandimere, whosecombined 30 kills and .329 hitting percentage paced the team.

The Hornets played shorthanded against Idaho State on Saturdayafter three players came down with the flu the night before.Bandimere put up 13 kills and eight digs while middle hitterKazmiera Imrie contributed 13 kills.

The previous night, Sac State defeated Weber State in Ogden,Utah for the first time since 1999 on the momentum ofBandimere’s 17 kills and .469 hitting percentage. She wassupported by middle hitter Emily Wilson’s 13 kills and .569hitting percentage.

“That was probably the best road match we’ve playedall year,” Colberg said. “We were solid in every aspectand got great balance. We’re playing well at the right timeof the year.”