With a 5-2 victory over Eastern Washington on Friday, Sacramento State charged out to a 4-0 record in the Big Sky conference and an 8-5 record overall.

The Hornets have seized control of the conference by defeating all comers in the Big Sky.

“Right now we’re playing pretty well,” team No. 1 Junaid Hossain said. “We hit a slump early on and we had some injuries, but now we are getting set in our spots.”

The biggest test in the conference season will come next weekend when the team faces off against both Montana and Montana State on the road. Montana State sports the conference’s only other undefeated record at 2-0, with an overall record of 8-8. The overall record is deceiving, however, as the Bobcats have lost to three nationally ranked teams.

The Hornets were picked to finish second to two-time defending champion Montana State in the preseason coaches poll. Montana State received 36 votes and six of the seven first-place votes. Sac State received 30 votes and was passed over in favor of predicted third-place finisher Northern Arizona for the seventh first-place vote. The Hornets and Bobcats faced off in last year’s Big Sky title match with Montana State coming away with a 4-0 victory.The Hornets know that to attain their ultimate goal of winning the conference title, they must play well this weekend against Montana State.

“It’s going to be tough playing (in Montana),” Ramon Perez said. “It will be played in elevation that we aren’t used to as well as being indoors. That’s two disadvantages for us right there. We just need to execute and we can win.”

“It should be interesting,” Hossain said about the trip into Montana. “The doubles point is going to be very important, because we have a really solid singles team.” The match could very well determine the No. 1 seed for this year’s Big Sky tournament.Despite the excellent start to the conference season, assistant coach Jonathan Labella knows that there is more to be done.

“We need to be a little bit cooler on the court. The players tend to overreact to situations and that takes them off their game.”If the Hornets can somehow return to Sacramento with two wins from the Treasure State they will be sitting pretty for a shot at their goal of a conference title.

“That’s what we are working for,” junior Gabriel Loredo said. “The conference championship is always on our minds.”

Benn Hodapp can be reached at [email protected]