Sacramento State’s men’s volleyball club has flown under the radar en route to a potential postseason berth.

The Hornets’ club consists of multiple players who are new to the sport, but that has not stopped the team from playing together and earning a 14-5 record, 6-4 in Northern California Collegiate Volleyball League play.

“We’ve been connecting well as a team,” said junior setter Thomas Fairchild. “We have a lot of new guys this year and to try and get a team unity is hard but we’ve been able to accomplish that so far this year.”

Despite the new players, head coach Sukhjit Dhillon and senior outside and team captain Jeff Steffens both said the Hornets club has better ball control, serving and defense than in the past few years.

“Our blocking has been good this year,” Steffens said. “We have big middles who get big blocks, so we’ve been blocking really well, playing defense behind it and hustling a lot more.”

Similar to young teams with success, the Hornets still find themselves making mistakes Steffens said needs to be addressed if they are going to continue to progress.

“When we get up on teams, we sometimes lose focus and let teams get back into it a little bit, so a big thing that would really help us is staying focused and staying on top of teams that we play,” Steffens said. “If we’re beating them, we need to keep beating them and not let them back in the game.”

Dhillon, a former member of the volleyball club, said there is a reason to be excited about his young team even though players are still learning the game and developing.

“We have so much room for improvement,” Dhillon said. “With a lot of new guys at new positions they’re still gelling, but it’s going to be exciting once we actually start peaking.”

The Hornets play their volleyball in Division I of the Northern California Collegiate Volleyball League, one of the most competitive leagues in the state, Dhillion said.

The NCCVL consists of bigger schools such as Stanford, Fresno State and Cal; schools with an advantage not only in recruiting, but size.

“Sac State doesn’t get a lot of recognition, it’s not a big-name school,” Steffens said. “If we won a title, it would bring more recognition. We could get more players, better players with less recruiting because they would actually want to come play here.”

Club sports do not receive the amount of funding other NCAA sports such as football or basketball receives. Each player pays $700 per season to be on the club and the money goes to uniforms, equipment and travel. The men’s club also does fundraisers and helps set up matches for the Sac State women’s volleyball team, which competes in NCAA play.

The men’s volleyball club is not a part of the NCAA because there are few men’s volleyball teams in the NCAA Div. I with 22 compared to 311 women’s teams. Title IX is also a reason why the Hornets do not compete in NCAA play.

Title IX calls for equal opportunities for women as men on college campuses. Schools receiving federal aid must give female sports an equal amount of money as male sports and on Sac State’s campus; football receives a majority of men’s sports money.

Dhillon said this number is staggered simply because not enough people know about the sport. He also went on to say the Hornets’ club would love to compete in NCAA play, but it does not bother them.

“There is just not enough men’s volleyball out there, it’d be nice,” Dhillon said. “But we’re happy where it is.”

The rules and regulations between the NCAA and club sports are the same for men’s volleyball; the differences are not in how the game is played, but the size of those playing. The Hornets are a small team across the board when compared to some of the top NCAA teams, but Steffens and Dhillon agreed they could play with the big boys.

“They’re pretty much 6-foot-5 across the board in the NCAA, but it’s a very physical game, a fast game and it’s still similar,” Dhillon said. “I think we could definitely hold our own against the Div. II or Div. III NCAA schools out there and even hang with some of the Div. I schools.”

The Hornets get set to take on rival UC Davis on Friday at home and Fairchild said if they can show they are a good team at home then more people would want to come and be a part of what they are doing.

But the Hornets know championships get the real recognition and said if they can continue to improve and bring one to Sac State, maybe that would get the ball rolling for other sports on campus to win also.

“Winning a championship would be huge for the program because of all the high school talent in Sacramento that would maybe want to come play here,” Dhillon said. “For the school, it would be nice to bring a couple of championships back, even if it is just a club sport for now. Bringing a title would hopefully become contagious and inspire other programs to say Sac State can win championships too.”

JJ Williams can be reached at [email protected].