According to coach Bill Campbell, a maximum of 25 days of play can be scheduled per year, with double-headers counting as one day. The Hornets 2005 schedule consists of 26 matches on 21 days.

“In the seven years I’ve been coaching, I haven’t had one response. I’ve never had a comment from any parents either. They all understand why we do this,” Campbell said.

So why exactly do they do this? It’s all about the national-rankings.

“In order to keep our national ranking high, we need to play as many ranked schools as we can, so we need to play these double-headers, then be able to play our other matches,” Campbell said “We need to play higher-ranked teams than we are ranked…it’s nice to have a few lower-ranked teams on the schedule for confidence building, but if you want to improve your ranking, you need to play the highest-ranked teams.”

The difference between Campbell’s schedule and other Big Sky opponents is two-fold: he prefers double-headers with a couple of days rest in between instead of several consecutive matches, and his team has some scheduling advantages that his Big Sky rivals just don’t.Sacramento State has scheduled five double-headers this season, a good deal more than any of the other Big Sky schools; Eastern Washington is closest with just two.

Both Idaho State and Eastern Washington University play two series of four matches in four days.-The University of Montana plays four matches in four days once, and twice plays three in three days, in addition to one double-header.

To the contrary, the Hornets play matches on three consecutive days only once, and never four in a row.

Sac State is also somewhat of an anomaly in the Big Sky Conference because it can attract schools with its record and location.

So while the Hornets play 26 matches this year, Eastern Washington plays a total of 18, with only three of those coming at home.-Idaho State also plays 18, and Northern Arizona University plays just 14.

With two wins of 7-0, 7-0, the result of both of Sac State’s double headers of the season so far, it would appear that Campbell and his team are managing just fine.

Back-to-back double-headers are scheduled for Feb. 20th and 27th, but the athletes will get a full six days of rest in between. But regardless of rest, Campbell has the utmost confidence in the conditioning of his Hornets.

“We practice from 1:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day we practice,” Campbell said. “Their matches aren’t even as intense as our practices, and we’re not usually on the court as long as we practice.

“The thing you have to remember, these matches aren’t nearly as hard as our practices.”