After going home as tournament champions for six seasons straight, the Sacramento State volleyball team had to surrender its title.

The Hornets had 12 consecutive losses earlier in the season, placing them at No. 6 in the standings after their home game against Portland State, according to the 2008 Big Sky Women’s Volleyball Standings.

The Big Sky Conference Volleyball Tournament is the culmination of the volleyball season for the Big Sky league; the top six teams play each other to determine which team will win first place.

Midway through the season, the Hornets turned its game around and began to win matches that it needed to win in order to make the playoffs.

“I literally credit the players,” said Ruben Volta, coach for the volleyball team. “They still wanted to win the conference after 12-0 and defend the title.”

Volta and Rose Burke, a senior who has been setting for the Hornets for the past four years, agreed that a major turning point in the season came when Sac State beat Portland State at Portland. Burke said the match was the highlight of her season.

“That whole match was fantastic,” she said. “It was something I hadn’t been able to do at Sac State.”

In the four years Burke played for the Hornets, the team has never been able to beat Portland State at Portland.

The last match of the season determined if the team would make it to the play-offs; the Portland State match was the first win on the road in league play.

The win proved to be a pivotal point in the season. “We worked really hard in practice,” Burke said. “We really wanted to go (to the tournament). We were going to do it no matter what.”

The team finished with a 10-23 overall record, the first sub -.500 since 1991.

Volta said the team’s biggest disappointment of the season came when the Hornets were knocked out of the playoffs after the first match. “All things considered, we are still a young team,” he said.

Many players from the previous season graduated, leaving a handful of veterans and a lot of newcomers. Two seniors remained on the team, and six freshmen joined the roster. Debbie Colberg, who coached the team to a national championship and six straight Big Sky championships in the past, had retired. This is Volta’s first season as the team’s coach.

Despite these changes made to the program, the Hornets came together as a team and made it to the playoffs.

Burke said that this year was different from seasons in the past. “We had to become comfortable playing with each other on the court,” she said.

Junior Melissa Melcher said, “It was interesting seeing our team come together.” The team had trouble working together on the court at the beginning of the season.

Volta said the team’s biggest accomplishment of the season was making the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

“After losing 12 matches on the road and then being able to go 8-8 in conference is the biggest accomplishment,” Volta said.

One of the biggest challenges the team overcame was rebuilding and bonding as a young team.

“It was exciting to start the season, it being my first year,” Volta said. “The good thing about youth is that they keep wanting to get better. I think they (the seniors) will be able to look back a lot on this year being an example to the team.”

Three seniors will leave the Hornets this year; Rose Burke, Katie Van Der Wende and Brittany Ferguson will not return for the 2009 season due to their graduating.

Burke will move back to her home state of Florida. She is ranked No. 5 all-time setter for Sac State and is ranked No. 2 in the Big Sky this year.

Wende played the libero position for the Hornets this season and last season. She played for Solano Community College prior to that, earning MVP honors in 2006. She is currently ranked No. 6 in the Big Sky and No. 8 in school history.

Ferguson is from Strathmore Albert. She said she had her best season this year. She played for the Hornets for the last four seasons.

Burke said the season was challenging. “But I’m glad I got to play with these girls,” she said.

Amy Lewis can be reached at [email protected]