The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The first thing Seton Hall volleyball coach Maureen Rafferty Del Rossi noticed upon returning to the Hornets’ Nest after five years was something she remembered all too well from her days as a four-year setter for Sacramento State.

“It’s hot in here,” Rafferty Del Rossi remarked after a practice last Thursday night in preparation for her current team’s appearance in the second-annual Sacramento State Invitational over the weekend.

While the relative climate of the Sacramento region, as well as the humidity of the Nest hasn’t changed much in five years, Rafferty Del Rossi has made the transition from standout player to head coach, coming full circle.

“Moving from a small town in Colorado to just outside of Manhattan, New York, was a big jump,” Rafferty Del Rossi said.

For another, the “Del Rossi” at the end of her name didn’t show up until this last July when she married her husband Joseph.

Rafferty Del Rossi was a four-year starter for the Hornets from 1996-99 and has the most assists (6,510) in Sac State history and ranks third all time in NCAA Division I history in that category. Rafferty also ranks ninth in the Hornet record book in digs, right behind 2004 graduate and current Sac State assistant, Lisa Beauchene.

“Maureen was one of the best setters we’ve had here,” said Hornet head coach Debby Colberg, in her 29th year. “Rarely would I ever think to myself, ‘that was a bad set or a bad decision.’ She chased down balls I thought were dead and put good sets on them.”

In her junior year, Rafferty guided the Hornets to their only NCAA Tournament first round victory in six program appearances, a three-game sweep of Houston.

“That win was definitely a highlight of my career and a great moment for the program,” Rafferty Del Rossi said. “I also have faith that they’ll get past the first round and further in the next few years.”

A teammate of Rafferty’s on the 1998-99 squads, 6-foot middle hitter Tasman Dwyer had a front-row seat for Seton Hall’s match versus the Hornets and liked what she saw from her former setter.

“It’s fun seeing her in the coach role, she fits it to a ‘T,’ ” Dwyer said as she, Rafferty and former teammate Kelly Voeltz stood reminiscing in the brick laden corridor of Yosemite Hall after the match Friday night. It was the corridor they walked together for two full years together as it leads to the home locker room.

After graduating with a degree in psychology, Rafferty Del Rossi, who was living in Davis at the time, took an assistant club director job in Davis. After two years, however, she said something was missing.

“I didn’t want to be working in a cubicle with two computers anymore,” Rafferty Del Rossi said. “I had devoted so much of my life to playing volleyball that I had to go out and physically be involved in it again.

“It was a blessing when the assistant job as Seton Hall came open; I knew it was something I had to do.”

On Feb. 17, 2004, Rafferty Del Rossi was named just the sixth head volleyball coach in Seton Hall’s history.

“If I could pass one thing on to my teams it’s that you need to believe in yourself and your team,” Rafferty Del Rossi said. “Whenever I stepped on the court I knew my team would win, and if six or 12 people all believe that, then good things will happen.”

Exactly seven months to the day after she was named Seton Hall head coach, Sac State alumnae, including former Rafferty Del Rossi teammates Tasman Dwyer, Kelly Voeltz, Alison Gahr and Loretta Coffman started to file in to watch one of their own coach her Seton Hall squad against their former mentor Colberg.

The embrace between the coaches before the game was the only bright spot for Rafferty Del Rossi as her former team dominated her current team from start to finish.

Sac State did not relinquish the lead in the first game and senior outside hitter Sandra Bandimere had more kills than all the Pirates combined with six as Seton Hall put up five kills in the entire set.

“We weren’t as consistent as (Sac State),” Rafferty Del Rossi said. “We’re a young team whereas they’re a more experienced team.”

Sac State hit .295 for the match while limiting the Pirates to a .018 hitting percentage.

“The collegiate atmosphere with the band and all the people in here helped us tonight,” head coach Debby Colberg said.

The match was attended by a crowd of 612, the highest for a volleyball match in the Nest in three years.

“It’s fun to see (Rafferty Del Rossi) enter her profession, but I certainly don’t want to lose to her,” Colberg said. “I hope she does well against everyone but us.”

“Give me a couple more years and some more experience and I’ll want to come back — maybe,” Rafferty Del Rossi said after her team’s final match Saturday night.