The Hornets have again shown they are here to win after beating No. 25 Long Beach State on Thursday in a three-game sweep, and a “good quality team” at Saint Mary’s on Saturday in another three game sweep, coach Debby Colberg said.

Colberg said on Friday that the team must go out and win some more games to show that the win over the 49ers wasn’t a one-time shot.

“We need to show it wasn’t a little fluke,” she said. The chance came Saturday against Saint Mary’s.

Saint Mary’s was 4-24 against Sacramento State and had won the last two contests until the Hornets snapped the Gaels two-game winning streak Saturday.

“We had a lot of confidence after beating Long Beach State,” junior Michelle Franz said. “Playing Saint Mary’s and beating them in three gives us even more confidence. The confidence is going to keep spilling over into the next couple of matches.”

Although the Hornets have beaten a ranked team, the NCAA still does not have them ranked. Colberg doesn’t put too much stock in the NCAA poll, but watches the Rich Kern Poll, which has Sac State ranked 38th. Rich Kern created the Rich Kern Poll.

“I don’t think (the NCAA) is doing its homework,” she said. “It’s not a show of the top 25.”

Colberg said she believes Kern’s poll to be more accurate and fair than the NCAA.

“I think every coach in the country looks at it,” she said. “(Kern) has the best results and he’s up to date. I like it because it’s less political and more objective.”

The Week Ahead

Sac State heads back to the Hornets Nest with Big Sky Conference play starting with Eastern Washington tomorrow, Portland State on Saturday and rounding out the homestand with Northern Colorado on Oct. 5. After last week’s success, the team is going in with more confidence to play harder no matter who the competitor is.

“Now that we have that under our belts, we have a huge amount of confidence,” senior Kristin Lutes said. “Everyone has the confidence to be a great team. We want to play harder and win no matter what team we play.”

“I feel that this last week in the competition really prepared us for these matches and to play our game,” Franz said. “It’s going to give us a lot of confidence because (Long Beach and Saint Mary’s) are big teams.”

Franz named player of the week

For the second time in three weeks, Michelle Franz has won the Big Sky Player of the Week award. She shares the honor with Jessica Brodie of Portland State. Franz helped guide the Hornets to a 2-1 record this past week, including a resounding three-game sweep of 25th ranked Long Beach State on Thursday.

It was Franz’s fourth time winning the award. The win also marked the fourth time in five weeks that a player from Sac State has taken the honor. Kristin Lutes and Lindsay Haupt also won it earlier this season.

Hornet trading cards now available

Beginning tomorrow, friends, family and Hornet fans can collect limited edition trading cards of Hornet volleyball players and their coaches by attending home games. Each card sports a photo of a Hornet player with her statistics on the reverse.

This is the first time trading cards have been created and will only be used for the volleyball team for the fall season.

Three cards will be handed out during each of the next six home matches, starting with Hubbard, senior Leah Klemenhagen and freshman Chara DeLoney.

Karyn Gilbert can be reached at [email protected]