The Sacramento State women’s volleyball program has a reputation of being a dominating defensive squad, and the numbers prove it.

In the last two seasons, the team ranked within the top 20 in the nation for digs and blocks. In 2005, the Hornets were 18th in blocks and fourth in digs and last season the team was ranked third in blocks and 14th in digs.

Both digs and blocks are considered defensive actions and there are different names and techniques for each.

Digging is a very important aspect in maintaining defense. That is where the libero comes in. The libero is a defensive specialist whose job is to make sure the ball rarely hits the ground and is constantly in play.

The block is the main objective for middle hitters like seniors Lindsay Haupt and Michelle Franz.

Blocking the opposition often cuts a volleyball player’s confidence and it can mess with the athlete’s head.

“It is the sheer frustration that you see in the face of the other hitter. No one likes to get blocked and when they do get blocked, they sit there and they’re like, ‘Man, that stinks,’ and you think, ‘Wow I did that,'” Haupt said.

Being blocked tears apart the confidence of a hitter, which is a reason Colberg likes to see her players block as often as possible.

“It is a confidence destroyer. I think blocking is the most fun skill out there. It’s important, because if they are putting up the block, we don’t have to do the hard stuff like digging every ball,” Colberg said.

Another form of blocking is known as swing blocking.

Swing blocking gives the blocker an advantage because it gives a chance to take an approach before trying to block the ball.

Prior to the 2005 season, coach Debby Colberg had not yet introduced the swing block to the volleyball program. Once introduced, it served as a vital part of the Hornets defense.

“(Swing blocking) takes advantage of their natural athletic ability. It gives them an approach when they are blocking and it lets them get a little bit higher,” Colberg said.

“I felt like it helped a lot the first year and I don’t know that it has made a difference this year, and at first we thought ‘hey, this is really working,’ but I also think we just had a really good group of blockers that year,” she added.

Colberg maintains that her focus on defense has always benefited her teams.

“I have always been a defensive type of coach and we work on that a lot in practice, and I like that type of player,” she said. “I like to recruit those types of players. That is the type of player who is usually available, because schools will pass up on smaller players.”

Colberg views the team’s size as an advantage. It’s agility and quickness allows Colberg to mold it into tough, defensive specialists.

Haupt said Hornet teams are successful in defense because of the coaching the girls receive from Colberg and her assistant Ruben Volta.

“Debby and Ruben definitely emphasize defense as a huge part of our game. Debby really requires good ball control by every single player,” Haupt said.

The team’s success in defense stems from not only the coaching, but the skills of the players themselves.

In the 2005 season, former Sac State volleyball player Kristin Lutes received her third Big Sky Conference Libero of the Year Award. She knows exactly what it takes to be a top-notch defensive player.

“Debby knows a lot about defense and she pushed us to a point of frustration. She pushed us to be very disciplined. We would be fatigued from doing a drill, but unless it was done perfectly, we would start all over again,” Lutes said. “We were pushed to the breaking point and then (Debby) would push us to get even better.

Lutes was responsible for the back-half of the court, and it was her job to make sure every inch was covered and the ball didn’t hit the ground.

“The three girls behind the blockers worked together and we knew which area we were covering and we were able to cover more ground that way,” Lutes said.

She also knew that without the blockers, the rest of the defense wouldn’t be able to do its jobs as well.

“We had outstanding blockers that always touched the ball. It made it 10 times easier for us to get a successful dig,” she said.

When Haupt was a freshman, the Hornets were still using traditional blocking techniques. When the team started using swing blocking, Haupt said it gave them an advantage.

“It is a quick technique that allows us to gain height and it is more dynamic. You can change things faster, and you can stay in better control,” Haupt said.

Freshman libero Chelsea Goodsell is another vital part of the Hornets defensive staff. With 372 digs so far this season, Goodsell is on track to follow in Lutes’ footsteps.

Lutes finished her four-year career with 2,355 and is the new record holder for most digs at Sac State. She sit 456 digs ahead of second place. Lutes also holds the first and second place spots for the single season record for digs with 768 (2006 season) and 707 (2005 season).

Goodsell said good defensive players know what’s going to happen before it does, and she also said they need to have a certain level of leadership.

“A good defensive player is one that sees the ball early and gets there, but they have a back-row core sense, where they direct things in the back row,” Goodsell said. “If they aren’t touching the ball, they talk all the time and control the back-row and really make sure that everyone knows what’s going on.”

Colberg’s favorite type of player is one who loves defense and is ready to put his or her body on the line to keep the ball in play.

“I think a lot of it is the willingness to throw your body out there on the floor, although there is a lot of technique involved, but you can’t be afraid of the ball,” Colberg said.

Sac State is not currently ranked in the NCAA’s top 75 for blocks per game, but the team is ranked 14 in digs per game.

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