Spring Break
Hornets earn honors
Sports Illustrated acknowledges eight teams
Felipe Molina
Issue date: 9/3/08 Section: Sports
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“I was very pleased with our department,” Director of Athletics Terry Wanless said. “I look at it (like) we are the 36th most successful program in the nation.”
To rank the schools, SI.com came up with a three-pronged formula that puts the emphasis on national titles, top 30 finishes and conference championships. Points were awarded for each category, national titles were worth 10 points each, three points for each conference championship and an extra point for winning the season-ending conference tournament and two points for each top 30 finish. Sacramento State finished with 19 points putting them in a tie with Minnesota for 36th place.
“I was just ecstatic, I was surprised because when you tend to think of being in the likes of the schools that were listed, those are hallmark institutions with hallmark athletic programs steep in rich tradition. It was nice to be recognized,” softball coach Kathy Strahan said.
The majority of Sacramento’s points derived from their women’s sports programs as they won the Big Sky Conference Women’s All-Sport Trophy winning five of the eight conference championships. No other team won more than one.
Leading the way was Sac State’s volleyball team, who once again won another Big Sky Conference Championship, making it its eighth straight conference championship. The team finished the season with an overall record of 29-8 and a Big Sky record of 13-3. The team also qualified for the NCAA Tournament, where it advanced to the second round.
“We had a really good season last year,” new volleyball head coach, Ruben Volta said, who was an assistant coach last season. “It was nice for our university to get some recognition.”
The volleyball team lost one of its best senior classes in school history, but it is returning seven players from last season’s squad, including two starters. This season will also mark the changing of the guard as new head coach Ruben Volta takes the helm. In the preseason coaches poll, the team was selected to finish second in the conference.
“I think we’re going to have to work a little harder than we did last season,” senior setter Rose Burke said. “But I’m confident that the people that are returning that weren’t getting playing time last year are ready to go.”
The soccer team finished the year with their best record in school history going 12-4-5 overall. The soccer team also went unbeaten in the Big Sky regular season posting a record of 4-0-3. Also with wins over Portland State and Northern Colorado in the conference tournament, the team picked up the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the first round to top seeded Stanford.
“It was an accumulation of a couple of great recruiting classes,” women’s soccer head coach Randy Dedini said. “The chemistry was fantastic.”
Looking ahead at the upcoming season, the Big Sky Conference Preseason Coaches Poll has Sacramento finishing first. The team is returning six all-conference players and 8-of-11 starters from last year’s championship squad. Also returning to the team after a season ending knee injury last year, is the 2006 team’s leading scorer Kayelyn Satkowski.
“I think we have the potential to do as well as last year,” Dedini said. “Most of the girls and myself included, our main goal is to get another chance in the NCAA Tournament.”
Another team that had a big season was the softball team, who made its first appearance in 13 years in the NCAA Regional. After winning eight of its final 10 games, the Hornets softball team posted a 32-21 overall record and a 14-6 record in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, winning the schools first PCSC championship. Head coach Kathy Strahan was named PCSC Coach of the Year.
“It was a culmination of a couple things, we had a lot of juniors and seniors, and we had outstanding leadership out of both of those classes,” coach Strahan said.
If you want to know what the softball team’s goal is for next season, all you have to do is look at coach Strahan’s computer and you’ll see a picture she took of last year’s NCAA Regional bracket showing Sac State. It’s a daily remainder of where they were last year and where they want to be this year. The team is returning 14 players from last season, including the league’s player of the year Jamie Schloredt.
In tennis and track and field, the women were not the only ones to shine as both men’s and women’s tennis and indoor and outdoor track teams won conference championships.
The women’s tennis team continued its dominance over the Big Sky Conference as it won its seventh-consecutive championship. The team has not lost a Big Sky match since 2002.
Katrina Zheltova was named Big Sky’s MVP for the second straight year, and with her second round win in the NCAA Tournament, Zheltova gained All-American status. According to Bill Campbell, director of tennis, this year’s team will be the “women’s best team ever.” On the other side, the men’s tennis team won the Big Sky regular season title. Campbell also says that the men’s team will be 50 percent better this year, as Sacramento signed one of the top recruits.
The women’s indoor track team had its best finish ever. Prior to this season, its highest finish was fifth place, last season it won the conference title. Also, the women’s indoor and outdoor team made history as both teams won conference titles. The men’s indoor track team won a conference title, but the outdoor team fell six points short of winning the outdoor title. In all the track and field team had a great year.
“Our freshmen were exceptional, they competed like seniors,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Kathleen Raske said.
Felipe Molina can be reached at fmolina@statehornet.com
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