Even if you can beat ’em, join ’em.

Former Sacramento State volleyball standout Lisa Beauchene posted one of her 18 career triple-doubles on Sept. 20, 2003, against New Mexico, posting 44 assists, 12 kills, 10 digs and seven blocks to accompany a .476 hitting percentage for one of the finest outings of her career. Her Hornets won that match 3-1 (30-24, 30-24, 30-32, 30-19).

Last Friday, New Mexico coach Kelley McKee announced that Beauchene agreed to an assistant coaching position with the Lobos after spending the last year coaching the Sac State women’s volleyball club and serving as a graduate assistant with the Hornets.

“I had a lot of opportunities to scout Lisa and knew she was a very established player,” said McKee, who coached against Beauchene and Sac State at Northern Arizona — another Big Sky school — for three years before taking over at New Mexico prior to the 2003 season. “We had to think of her as an attacker too with her play at the net.”

And of that 2003 outing McKee added, “Oh, she annihilated us.”

Current Hornet coach Debby Colberg said that McKee contacted her and asked if she knew anyone interested in college coaching, and Colberg gave her Beauchene’s name.

Beauchene joins Sharon Clark (coach at Butler), Maureen Rafferty (coach at Seton Hall), Sarah Chlebana (assistant at Syracuse), Jamie Holmes (assistant at Ohio State) and Jackie Ponciano (coach at Diablo Valley Junior College) as Hornets who played under Colberg to go onto coach college teams.

Beauchene was one of the most decorated players in Hornet history, earning three Big Sky tournament MVP awards (2000, ’02 and ’03) leading the team to Big Sky tournament titles each of those years, Big Sky regular season MVP as a senior and all-Big Sky honors all four years. She ranks in the top 10 career in digs, assists, hitting percentage and aces in Sac State history.

In her senior season she was named to five all-tournament teams including the Comcast Lobo Invitational where she torched her current team.

Beauchene will train two young Lobo setters, freshman Sarah Kwasigroch ans sophomore Tanna Taylor.

“Lisa will be able to relate to (the setters) well,” Colberg said. “They’re close in age and Lisa went through a similar situation (starting early in her career).”

The Lobos went 9-17 last season with a 3-13 record in the Mountain West Conference to finish seventh.

“I think her impact on our team will be huge,” McKee said in a telephone interview. “Setter is a special position and she’ll especially help our setters and hitters work well together.”

In Beauchene’s final eight years as a player she led a championship squad every year. She was a four-year starter and won four district championships for Fife High in Tacoma, Wash., and won a Big Sky regular season and/or tournament title each year as a Hornet.

Attempts to reach Beauchene on Thursday were unsuccessful.