To the untrained volleyball eye, the position of libero seems a little out of place.

For one, they wear a different color jersey than the rest of their teammates — like a goalie in soccer — and for another, they’re usually a bit shorter in stature than their 6-foot plus counterparts that play at the net.

The same can be said for 5’6″ Kristin Lutes, a native of Kent, Wash. playing 740 miles away from home in Sacramento State green and gold.

“It’s just crazy how things worked out by luck, my being here,” Lutes said. “I originally wanted to play in state for Eastern Washington.

“At one point I even said, ‘I want to be an Eagle.'”

Lutes made a verbal commitment to play at Eastern Washington, the Hornets’ Big Sky Conference rival, even though it meant walking-on versus taking a scholarship. No more then a week later at the Crossroads club tournament in Kansas City, Sac State assistant coach Ruben Volta was attempting to recruit an outside hitter that could play defense.

As it happened, while Volta was in Kansas City, the Hornets revealed a glaring weakness in their serve-receive game during their spring tournament, prompting head coach Debby Colberg to have Volta pursue any player that could anchor the defense.

That alone was enough for Volta to set up a recruiting trip and offer a scholarship to Lutes; it was all she needed.

“When I got here it was one of those feelings,” Lutes said. “You just know when a situation is right and that’s how I felt when I saw the campus and met (the team).”

Lutes went on to win the Big Sky Libero of the Year award as a freshman last season.

“Now it’s a pretty scary thought, if we didn’t have her,” said Volta of Lutes’ contribution to the program so far.

“She’s stepped it up even from last year and the defense she provides is the difference between us being a good team and a bad team,” Colberg said.

When asked about recruiting Lutes, Eagles’ head coach Wade Benson said he had no comment.

“It’s weird when we pass each other between games,” Lutes said of Benson. “When we played last year I would hear him tell his players to serve me the ball.”

It should be weird for Lutes, Benson and company again this Saturday at 1 p.m. as Eastern (8-5, 3-0 Big Sky) comes into the Hornets Nest to face Sac State (12-5, 2-1) for the first time this year.

The Eagles’ last win in the Nest came in the 2001 Big Sky title match. The Hornets have taken down the Eagles in the last two Big Sky title matches in Cheney, Wash.