It was only fitting that the two teams who came into Friday night’s match with so much at stake, battled it out for five tough games (30-25, 30-22, 26-30, 24-30, 15-10) before Sacramento State (19-3, 7-0) took down the Vikings (14-5, 7-1).
Both squads entered the contest undefeated in conference play, but it was the Hornets who increased their home winning streak to 54 matches against conference foes. With the loss, the visiting Vikings went home and circled Nov. 17 on their calendar, as they look forward to the rematch between the two teams, this time played at the Stott Center.
It was a resilient Portland State squad who took the floor in the third game of the match, after being beat soundly in the first two games. Dominating blocking performances from the middle led to the Vikings stymieing the usually potent Hornet offense and holding them to a season worse .085 hitting percentage.
Relying on outstanding defensive performances from middle blockers senior Michelle Segun, sophomore Erica Jepsen and freshman Christie Hamilton, the Vikings were able to impose their will and battle back to take games three and four before eventually stumbling in game five.
Segun ended the night with 16 block assists and a total of 21 blocks, setting a Portland State record. Jepsen added 13 blocks and Hamilton rounded out the impressive showing from the Vikings’ middle blockers with 12 blocks.
Should all things continue to fall into place for both teams, they will meet again in a little over a month in a match that will decide the conference’s regular season champion. The match should also determine the host of the 2008 Big Sky Conference Volleyball Tournament at season’s end.