If you could sum up the Portland State quarterback play this season, one word is all that you would need: inconsistent. Last season, the Vikings shuffled through four different quarterbacks on their way to a 3-8 record. Tygue Howland and Brian White, the two who battled for the top spot throughout the offseason, both went down to injuries, giving way to freshman Drew Hubel.
Playing on the road Thursday night, Portland State proved too much for Montana State to handle. The Vikings easily dispatched the winless Bobcats in three sets, 25-14, 25-17, 25-19. The victory keeps Portland State’s Big Sky title hopes alive, setting them just a half game behind Northern Colorado.
Earlier this year Rick McReynolds approached a player on the sidelines before one of the football team’s games. The reason: This particular player had a personalized towel tucked into the waistband of his black football pants. McReynolds, the Vikings director of operations and head equipment coordinator, perhaps to his displeasure, informed the player that he needed to remove the towel in order to comply with NCAA standards, Nike sponsorship requirements and, likely, head coach Jerry Glanville’s preference.
In sports, earning the coveted role of underdog is no small task. Teams often fight over being the underdog before a matchup, as the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies did before this year’s October Classic. Each of those teams claimed to have been overlooked by media and the rest of the league.
Mired in a three-game losing streak just one week ago, head coach Michael Seemann complained that his volleyball team was struggling to make plays in the crucial moments of matches. But after watching his team easily dispatch Weber State and Idaho State during two solid home victories this weekend, Seemann–despite still constantly tinkering with his lineup and rotation–found some peace in the Vikings’ successful weekend.
When senior guard Andre Murray arrived at Portland State in 2007, he had traveled a route familiar to many Vikings student-athletes. After prepping in Los Angeles, Murray attended junior college at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif. Last season, he took over as the Vikings’ shooting guard, starting 22 games and averaging nine points per contest.
Elevated to the status of interim track and field head coach was Ronnye Harrison. Harrison replaces Kebba Tolbert, who departed Portland State after five years for a coaching position at the University of Texas, El Paso. Harrison has coached at high schools in the Portland area since 1998, working at Jefferson and, for the last four years, at Benson. He graduated from Jefferson in 1977.
For the last three seasons, Portland State volleyball has carried an unflinching home court advantage through Big Sky play. Coming into their Oct. 17 matchup against Sacramento State, the Vikings held a 27-match home winning streak against conference opponents, a streak dating back to 2005.
Before the dust could even settle on the 2008 Big Sky Championship trophy, Portland State basketball coach Ken Bone and his staff were already preparing for this season. Those offseason preparations included helping players develop and strengthen weaknesses, organizing the Vikings nonconference schedule and spending some well-deserved recuperation time away from the Stott Center.
Awarded as Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week was junior goalkeeper Cris Lewis. The award came on the heels of a supreme defensive performance from Lewis and the Vikings. In two games against Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona, Lewis gave up just one goal despite having to defend a combined 47 shots. In Sunday’s game against the Lumberjacks, Lewis had nine saves and stymied a Northern Arizona offense that had been averaging better than two goals per game.
Twenty years ago, as head coach of the NFL’s Houston Oilers, Jerry Glanville guided his squad to one of their finest seasons in franchise history. Behind star performances from Pro Bowl quarterback Warren Moon, wide receiver Drew Hill and guard Bruce Matthews, the Oilers finished the season at 10-6.