The Portland State women’s volleyball team is set to take on top-ranked Northern Colorado Saturday in a match that will likely decide which squad becomes the Big Sky Conference’s regular season champion.
Portland State (17-8, 12-2 Big Sky Conference) is one match behind the Bears (21-5, 12-1 Big Sky) in the conference standings, and a win is crucial to secure the conference title. With only one match remaining on each team’s schedule after Saturday, both teams will fight for a victory this weekend.
Second-place Portland State knows how to rally. Last weekend, after falling to Eastern Washington in the first two sets, the Viks came back to win the match 3-2, marking just the second time PSU has ever won on EWU’s court.
Despite the rough start, three Vikings posted double-doubles. Senior outside hitter Whitney Phillips led the team with 16 kills and a career-high 22 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Megan Ellis pulled 14 kills and 14 digs, and freshman setter Garyn Schlatter recorded 31 assists and 11 digs.
Portland State has had impressive hitting this season. The Viks outhit their opponents in 11 consecutive matches before Idaho State put a stop to the run on Oct. 22. Nevertheless, the Vikings have led in hitting in 15 of their past 16 matches.
Head coach Michael Seemann hopes to keep that accuracy going next weekend.
“I think the most important thing is shot selection from the start, and being aggressive and sharper,” Seemann said of his offensive strategy against Northern Colorado.
PSU’s defense started shaky last weekend when the Vikings fell in the opening two matches, but they still out-blocked their opponents, 15-13.5. This weekend, Seemann said he wants to avoid the unbalanced defense that the Viks showed early on against Eastern.
“Northern [Colorado] will give us a very good reason to be off-balance because their tempo of offense is fast,” he said.
The top-ranked Bears have played an impressive season. The Bears’ only conference loss came against the Viks earlier in the season, and after that defeat they pulled off three 3-2 victories in a row. Last weekend, they defeated both Montana schools with a sweep of Montana and a 3-1 victory over Montana State the following evening.
Sophomore Kelley Arnold led the Bears to victory against the Montana schools, and for the third time this season she was awarded the Big Sky’s Player of the Week honor. Over the weekend, the outside hitter had 25 kills, 28 digs, eight blocks and posted two aces. Arnold grabbed double-doubles in both wins, bringing her season total to eight.
Northern Colorado’s victory at Montana was the first time that the Bears have beaten the Griz on their home court.
With the win over Montana State the next night, Northern Colorado tied a school record set just last year for wins at the NCAA Division-I level.
Senior outside hitter Julie Stephenson recorded her sixth double-double of the season against Montana State with 15 kills and 11 digs. The senior has had an impressive final season. As of the Montana State match, Stephenson has 131 more kills in just this season then she did in her first three seasons combined.
The Bears and the Vikings have a history. Last season, Northern Colorado beat Portland State in the Big Sky Championship, ending the Vikings’ shot at a postseason title. Despite that loss, PSU leads the all-time series, 14-5, but the Viks enter this weekend having lost the last two matches played at Northern Colorado.
In the first match this season, the Bears started on top, 2-1, but it was Portland State that won the last two sets to claim a 3-2 victory. PSU freshman setter Garyn Schlatter led the match with a triple-double (48 assists, 15 digs, and 11 kills).
First serve is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion in Greeley, Colo. Live audio and video can be accessed through Big Sky TV, and links to the footage and live stats will be available through goviks.com. ?