365-day forecast

Football

The second year of the Jerry Glanville era should be better than the first, but improving on this season’s 3-8 finish will not be a breeze.

Portland State will lose several key contributors, including the team’s leading rusher, receiver and tackler.
Defensively, Portland State will return three All-Big Sky Honorable Mention performers in junior linebackers Andy Schantz and K.J. McCrae, and freshmen linebacker Ryan Pederson.

Offensively, barring another season wrought with injury, the Vikings should be much more consistent after spending a full off-season studying the run-and-shoot and learning from game-day lessons in 2007.

The quarterback position will be a crapshoot again next season. Junior signal caller Tygue Howland should be the favorite as he returns from injury, and frosh quarterback Drew Hubel and junior Jimmy Collins are also likely to compete for the starting job in 2008.

Volleyball

Next season the Vikings will learn first hand that along with success comes high expectations.

After winning the Big Sky regular season title in 2007, Portland State earned the right to host the 2008 Big Sky Conference Tournament, and should be an early favorite to contend for a second consecutive title.

Senior middle blocker Michelle Segun, a first team All-Big Sky selection, is the only player the Vikings will lose, meaning a repeat is a definite possibility.

Sophomore setter Dominique Fradella, second team All-Big Sky, is expected to lead what has become a very talented and experienced group. Sophomore outside hitter Marija Vojnovic, honorable mention All-Big Sky, will also be a key cog in the team’s success next season.

Women’s basketball

First year head coach Sherri Murrell brings Pac-10 experience and a rejuvenated attitude to this year’s version of the Vikings, and the team is already responding.

The Vikings have opened the 2007-08 season with an unblemished 5-0 mark. Behind the stellar play of junior forward Kelsey Kahle, sophomore point guard Claire Faucher and the leadership and scoring ability of senior guard Delaney Conway, Portland State should vie for a top spot in the Big Sky in 2008.

Portland State should build a foundation in this upcoming season that lasts for the next decade.

Men’s basketball

Led by three seniors in wingmen Dupree Lucas and Deonte Huff and center Scott Morrison, the Vikings have a legitimate shot at competing for a Big Sky Championship this winter.

In his third season at the helm, head coach Ken Bone has assembled a squad that is both talented and exciting to watch.

Behind the nucleus of Lucas, Huff and junior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez Portland State will play an aggressive, ball-hawking brand of defense on the perimeter. Morrison will patrol the paint, and should score early and often on the offensive end.

Soccer

Replacing two-time Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year Juli Edwards will be a challenge, but other than Edwards, the entire roster returns in 2008.

Sophomore forward Dolly Ennecking, who earned second team All-Big Sky honors this past season, should have a break out season for the Vikings, and sophomore goalkeeper Cris Lewis will have the opportunity to solidify her own growing legacy as one of the best to ever tend the net for Portland State.

Softball

Last season, the Vikings experienced a conference-title hangover that has plagued many successful Portland State teams over the past couple years. But the team should be able to bounce back and contend, that is, if senior pitcher and utility player Mandy Hill receives some help on the pitching staff. 

Hill devoured innings a season ago, leading the Pacific Coast Softball Conference with 283.2 innings pitched. If Hill receives some assistance on the mound from some of the junior college players the Vikings have signed this off-season, then Portland States chances of contending will increase considerably.

Golf

As the golf team enters 2008, they do so without a head coach. The resignation of Felicia Johnston last week, Portland State’s most successful coach since joining the Big Sky in 1996, leaves a sizeable void.

The impact of Johnston’s resignation will not be realized in full until next fall, after players have had to chance to evaluate her replacement.

Sophomore Justine Hix and freshman Alexia Brown will lead a young Vikings squad. Four high school seniors have already committed to Portland State, including standout Corrine Gilbertson from San Bernardino, Calif.

Wrestling

Second-year head coach Mike Haluska returns 11 wrestlers from a team that took their licks a year ago. The team adds 11 new faces to the mix in 2008, creating a squad that consists of 11 freshmen, five sophomores, three juniors and three seniors.

Expect the Vikings to be led by sophomore Greg Einerson at 133 pounds and junior transfer Henry Kofa at 149 pounds.

Track and Field

On the women’s side the Vikings will be led by sophomore Melissa Owens, one of the nation’s best 800-meter runners at the junior level, and senior thrower Caressa Sims. Sims will be a frontrunner for the hammer throw title after finishing second a year ago.

Seniors Charlie Goman and Trevor Rollinger will provide key leadership and experience for the men’s team as the only two returning seniors on the roster. Rollinger has the opportunity to win his fourth consecutive Big Sky Championship in the 400-meter hurdles this spring.

Tennis

Five freshmen and three juniors comprise the Portland State men’s tennis team. That means head coach Steve Ascher has his work cut out for him in rebuilding the recently reinstated program.

Freshmen Alex VanDerschelden and junior Kyle Erickson will spearhead the reconstruction effort as the Vikings return to Big Sky competition this spring after a four-year hiatus.

Like the men’s team, the women’s team is young, featuring seven freshmen that include Molly Knox, Stephanie Fuchs and Caitlin Stockling.

Wins might not come easily for this group, but they will be responsible for re-laying the foundation for tennis in the South Park Blocks.