The Sacramento State volleyball team kicked off its season in Springfield, Mo., in the two-day, five-team Mary Jo Wynn Tournament on Aug. 24 where head coach Debby Colberg picked up her 800th career victory. Sac State swept Delaware State 3-0 in the first round.

The Hornets went on to beat Tulsa 3-2 and the University of Missouri-Kansas 3-0, but fell to Missouri State 3-2 in the final match.

Sac State defeated Illinois State 3-1, Alabama 3-1 and UAB 3-0 to take the title of champions of the Academy Sports Bama Bash last weekend.

The Hornets finished its longest road trip of eight matches in nine days with a 6-2 record and head home to the Sacramento State Invitation this weekend.

The 2007 season is an upsetting end to a legacy at Sac State. It will be the 32nd and final season for Colberg.

Colberg has coached many successful seasons, having obtained two national titles, 17 conference championships, 15 Coach of the Year awards and has appeared at 19 NCAA Tournaments.

“It’s a bittersweet ending for the season,” said Senior Lindsay Haupt, who has played under Colberg for four years. “Sac State and the volleyball team will be losing the greatest leader we’ve ever had. She is probably the best leader on the West Coast.”

Haupt said Colberg will finally be able to pursue interests she previously had no time for.

“I’m fine with retiring. It’s now a time when I’ll be able to do other things with my life. I know I will miss volleyball, but I’ll be back to support Sac State and watch all of their games,” Colberg said.

The senior players had the chance to work with Colberg from the start of their Sac State athletic careers and Haupt knows that it will be a sad year.

“It’s sad because it’s the last season the school will have with her and also for the freshmen,” she said. “I had the chance to play with her for four years but it’s only the freshmen’s first year.”

The Hornets return to its home court for the Sac State Invitational on Friday where they will be hosting Oregon State, and Manhattan and Cal State Northridge on Saturday.

Within the last ten years, the Hornets have won either the Big Sky Conference’s regular season or a tournament championship and are looking to win its 11th consecutive Conference title.

Although the Hornets lost seniors Kristin Lutes, Atlee Hubbard, Leah Klemenhagen, and Shannon Roland last season, they are looking to have another spectacular season.

Added to the lineup this season are freshmen Cayti Crowton, Maddison Thivierge, Chelsea Goodsell, Whitney Mendivil and Chara DeLoney.

One of the biggest losses the Hornets will face is the loss of Lutes, three-time Big Sky Conference Libero of the Year.

Replacing Lutes will be Goodsell from Laguna Niguel, Alex Vidal and Katie Van Der Wender, both defensive specialists, will contribute to the team’s defensive line.

“Kristin was a good libero, but she also brought intensity and a good work ethic to the team. I am pleased with our freshman libero we recruited. She did very well in the tournament and she will eventually get to the level Kristin was at,” Colberg said.

“You can’t replace a Kristin but we have some amazing freshmen who have come in this year. The girls have a lot of talent and they are really smart. We also have Debby who is one of the greatest defense coaches. We also have Katie and Alex who are really talented players,” Haupt said.

With all of the new talent added to the roster this season, the Hornets are looking forward to the postseason.

“We sat down as a team this preseason and set some goals on how well we want to do this postseason. We usually get paired up with Stanford in the first match which cuts our season short, but anything is possible every year. If we play with confidence and play to our full potential, we have a great chance to upset any team we face. We would love to make it to the Sweet 16, but we just need to take the season one match at a time,” DeLoney said.

Haupt also knows their team has great potential this year.

“We haven’t had our first match yet but we are setting our goals really high for the postseason,” she said. “Debby thinks she is putting one of the best teams she has ever coached out onto the floor this season and we have a lot of talent at both the freshman and senior level.”

Even Colberg is looking ahead into the postseason.

“Well we always want to go farther than the year before. We hope to win the Big Sky and the Big Sky Tournament,” she said.

The postseason does depend on how the Hornets are placed for the playoffs.

“I think it depends on how the season turns out. If we are matched up against the best team in the nation, it’s a little different than facing a team a little lower in the food chain,” Colberg said.

With NCAA hopes and a reputation to live up to, the Hornets should provide fans with entertaining games and an exciting season.

Alicia de la Garza can be reached at [email protected].