The Sacramento State women’s volleyball team won the Big Sky Conference title in a three-game sweep of No. 1 seeded Portland State on Saturday night in the Hornets Nest.

The Hornets flew by the Vikings with a score of 3-0 (30-22, 30-24, 30-26).

The conference title marks the 11th consecutive year that the Hornets have won either the regular season and/or the conference title.

For coach Debby Colberg, the win was important, as it marked her last home game of the season. When she heard that the team wanted to win for her, Colberg felt extremely emotional.

“It probably makes me cry, but it makes me feel really special,” Colberg said.

Although Colberg hopes the players are out there to play for themselves, the team had other plans in mind.

Senior Missie Stidham said the team focused on making the end of Colberg’s career one to remember.

“I think this last game we wanted to play for her. It is her last home game so we just bonded together and we did it for Debby. This was for her,” Stidham said.

Senior middle hitter Lindsay Haupt also believes that the team wanted to make the match special for Colberg.

“It is huge to win it in three for her. Since I’ve been here, we’ve always done it in four. It’s huge to do that for her and the rest of the seniors, to just come out with a huge win in three games and just show them that we are the champions,” Haupt said.

On Nov. 17, the Hornets lost to Portland State in Portland. After the loss, the Hornets were looking to come out strong against the Vikings.

“We wanted revenge big time on them. It feels great to beat them in three,” Stidham said.

The first game was all Sac State as Stidham led all players with 12 kills and 10 digs. Stidham also led all players with a .346 hitting percentage.

Hornet defense dominated the game also, only allowing the Vikings to post a .052 hitting percentage. The Vikings team as a whole tacked up as many kills as Stidham posted individually.

In the second game, Hornet offense was strong as the team posted a .346 hitting percentage. Haupt posted a solid .500 hitting percentage.

Junior setter Rose Burke also did her part, contributing defensively with five digs.

The third and final frame was a battle for most of the game. The Vikings came out ready to fight for the championship title.

The Hornets were down 24-12 until a kill from junior outside hitter Brittany Ferguson put the Hornets back in control of the ball.

The Vikings had a five point run until an attack error from Portland State gave Sac State the ball.

After a timeout from Portland State, the game was all Hornets. The team rallied back from a seven point deficit with 13 consecutive points.

The Hornets came back to 25-29 before a set from Burke to Stidham was put down for the final point of the match.

The Hornets worked hard to make their comeback, never worrying that the game was out of their hands.

“It comes out with Debby’s great coaching. She doesn’t get panicked and it comes out on the floor through us girls. We don’t panic, we just play good volleyball,” Haupt said.

Haupt also recognized it was the Hornets who made the errors, not giving credit to the way the Vikings played.

“We got ourselves into that rut. They didn’t put us there by doing anything great. We made the errors and we realized that. We realized we needed to change our confidence and come back and we did,” Haupt said.

Associate head coach Ruben Volta knew that the team was prepared to make a comeback although it was down several points.

“They just played hard. Once they got the momentum, they played really hard defensively and kept balls off the floor. (Senior middle hitter) Michelle Franz came up with some big blocks so they just played really hard,” Volta said.

After the match, the Big Sky Conference awards were announced for first team tournament selections. Three Sac State players were named to the first team, including Haupt, Stidham and Franz.

Colberg recognizes it is the big matches that allow the ability of players to shine.

“I just thought there were some terrific performances. Those three played really well,” she said. “I think in order to beat a team like Portland State, you have to have several kids step up tonight, and they did.”

Stidham was also pleased with the award, mentioning in the beginning of the season that her goal for this year was to win her conference as she had yet to accomplish that at her previous school.

“I feel amazing. Especially tonight since we lost to Portland last weekend,” Stidham said.

Stidham also felt that home court advantage was a contributing factor to the championship win.

“I think it helps a lot. Everybody gets into it, even the crowd. My family is here and I want to play good for them, I mean it’s the last time they are going to see me at home so I wanted to go out with a bang,” Stidham said.

The Hornets will now advance to the NCAA regionals for the sixth consecutive year. Matchups for the tournament will be selected Sunday night.

Last year, the Hornets were paired up against Stanford and lost 0-3. This year, the Hornets are hoping they are more prepared to take on their opponent.

“Right now we wait to see where we’re going and who we’re going to be matched up with. You get a film on them basically, and you watch them. If it’s someone way up there, it makes it very difficult, but anything is possible,” Colberg said.

“It really depends on who we play. We’ll sit down and exchange video and kind of just get to work,” Volta said.

Sacramento State will play Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA D-I Tournamnet at 5 p.m. on Friday in Stanford. No. 1 Stanford will take on Santa Clara at 7:30 p.m. The winners will advance and face off on the second round on Saturday.

For Colberg, this will be her 20th NCAA tournament appearance as head coach of the Hornets.

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