With its victory Saturday night over Montana State, Sacramento State volleyball has now won at least 20 matches in each of the past 10 seasons.

“It all comes down to one thing and that’s Debby Colberg,” said Alison Gahr, current advancement assistant at Sac State and right side hitter for the Hornets from 1998-2000. “She expects so much out of her players and they answer.”

Colberg has been on the sidelines for the Hornets for the past 29 seasons and now has guided the program to 20 wins in 24 of them.

During her tenure Colberg has also guided the program to two National Championships, one in AIAW in 1980 and one in NCAA Div. II in 1981.

“When you have teams that win a lot, you have to give credit to the athletes,” Colberg said. “I’ve always believed that.”

A run that started on Sept. 5, 1995 with a 3-1 victory at Santa Clara with Hornet legends Susie Severyn, Jill Haas and Carissa Buie was continued on Saturday night by the likes of Sandra Bandimere, Emily Wilson and Stephanie Gamst.

The Hornets avenged a loss earlier in the season in Bozeman, Mont., by taking out Montana State 3-1 (30-21, 24-30, 30-28, 30-24) at the Hornets Nest.

Sophomore outside hitter Atlee Hubbard led all players with 21 kills, posting a .304 hitting percentage and digging out 15 potential Bobcat points.

“I felt great tonight,” said Hubbard, a transfer from Rhode Island. “I haven’t felt that good on a volleyball court in a while — it’s about time.”-

Hubbard posted her season-high in kills and was just four shy of her career high of 25 dating back to her days as a freshman standout at Rhode Island.

“I feel like I really showed my teammates my full potential for the first time tonight,” Hubbard, who also posted her fourth double-double in the team’s last five matches, said.

The Hornets (20-6, 8-2 Big Sky) further solidified their hold on second place in the Big Sky Conference with the win over third place Montana State (15-7, 7-4).

Hubbard dropped eight of her 21 kills in the third game to lead the team to a 30-28 victory. With the score tied at 26 late in the pivotal frame, Hubbard put on a real show. She accounted in some capacity for all of the Hornets final four points cranking three kills and combining with Wilson for a block of Bobcats outside hitter Meggie Malyurek, who led Montana State with 17 kills.

On the game’s final play, Hubbard swooped in to dig a ball right at the net and proceeded to place a perfect set from senior Stephanie Gamst in the back right corner to seal the frame in the Hornets favor.

“We really fed off Atlee’s offense tonight, something we haven’t done yet this year,” Colberg said.

Sandra Bandimere continued her assault on Big Sky competition Thursday night with 24 kills and 22 digs in Sacramento State’s 3-1 (30-22, 30-27, 28-30, 30-20) win over Montana at the Hornets Nest.

“I just don’t like the other team, whoever we’re playing,” the senior outside hitter and team captain said. “I’m very competitive; it’s just in my nature.”

There was plenty of competition for Sac State as the Grizzlies (5-16, 2-9) came out much more aggressive than the first time the two teams met this season, a 3-0 win for the Hornets in Missoula, Mont on Oct. 2.

“We were more aggressive tonight and (Sac State) is a hard team to do that against,” said Montana head coach Nikki Best, now in her fifth year with the program. “We’re starting to come on and are playing much stronger in the second half (of the season).”