The fans were rowdy and the Stott Center was rocking, and the Portland State volleyball team swept error-prone Weber State in lackluster fashion on Thursday night.
Coming into the match against the Wildcats, the second-place Vikings were heavily favored to steamroll the Big Sky’s last-place team. But, that wasn’t the case as Portland State consistently failed to capitalize on numerous Wildcat miscues and had trouble getting their offense running smoothly. This left the Vikings struggling to pull out a victory in the waning moments of the third game.
”The players are happy with the win, but I don’t think the players were happy with their performance. There were a lot of opportunities that we left out there. We had lots of chances to make system plays; instead we ended up depending on individual performances, which isn’t going to work against better teams in this conference," said head coach Jeff Mozzochi.
One player that enjoyed another great individual performance was senior outside hitter Jessica Brodie. She not only ended the match with the game-winning kill, but also secured her eighth 20-kill match of the season with exactly 20 kills and seven digs on the night. Even with the respectable performance, Brodie realized that her team wasn’t playing up to par.
”The whole match we weren’t playing our best," Brodie said. “Every timeout coach Mozzochi was telling us that this isn’t how we are supposed to be playing."
Although the Vikings weren’t playing up to their potential in the first two games, they took advantage of several Wildcat mistakes and coasted to two victories. This set the stage for an exciting third and final game. The Viks jumped out to an early three-point lead. However, they quickly squandered it and found themselves playing from behind.
As the end of the game came closer, the lead grew and it became evident that there would be fourth game on the horizon. However, in a quick rally the Vikings stormed back, matching Weber State’s score at 25. For the final five points, the score went back and forth as each team jumped ahead and then fell behind. With the score tied up at 28 apiece, the huge block from junior middle blocker Michelle Robertson gave the Viks a lead. Jessica Frederick stepped to the service line with the crowd screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs, served a ball that was immediately returned and then was fired back by Brodie for the game-winner.
In a team performance that was characterized as “flat" by Mozzochi, the Viks were fortunate to walk away with not only a conference win, but also a sweep. With the win the Viks improve their record to 13-5 overall and 8-1 against conference foes. They now head to Cheney, Wash. to take their second swing at the always-challenging Eastern Washington Eagles.