The Portland State women’s volleyball team went into one of the biggest matches of the season against the Northern Colorado Bears and came out with a loss, but quickly bounced back to grab a win against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks later in the weekend.
The Vikings went into Thursday night as the Big Sky conference leaders, but Northern Colorado (14-12 overall, 10-4 in conference) trampled the Viks in a three-set sweep. The Vikings conference standings were on the line on Saturday against a Lumberjack team hoping to stay in the postseason hunt, but a four set comeback victory kept Portland State in second place.
Portland State’s record now stands at 14-12 overall and 10-4 in conference. Going into Thursday’s match, the Bears were one half game behind the Vikings but their sweep victory swapped the standings, giving them the Big Sky lead with Portland State a half-game behind.
The Vikings came in with a five-match winning streak, but Northern Colorado halted all forward momentum for the Viks leaving them with a .075 hitting percentage overall, and a negative percentage in the final frame.
“In the first set, for sure, we did a good job of cutting in, blocking and serving,” Viking head coach Michael Seemann said. “But Northern Colorado made a couple of adjustments and we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities they were giving us.”
Even though the Vikings were able to keep the second and third frame close—including eight lead changes and 20 tied scores—in the end, the home team pulled off each frame with clutch-runs in their favor to finish the match 3-0.
Seemann said, “Both teams played a defensive game, but they had a little more momentum, they were at home and we never really got into a good rhythm.”
“A lot of [the loss] was our attacking,” sophomore setter Garyn Schlatter said. “When our hitters were hitting the balls they weren’t landing where we wanted them to on the court and without that it makes it extremely difficult for things to happen.”
In spite of the team’s mediocre offensive performance, the Vikings’ highlight of the match came on the defensive blocking side. They registered 10.5 blocks to only five for the Bears. Sophomore outside hitter Aubrey Mitchell led the Viks with five blocks and freshman middle blocker Leigh-Ann Haataja registered four.
Portland State left Northern Colorado and hit the road to Northern Arizona where they found their feet again. The Lumberjacks, who now sit in sixth place with a 15-7 overall record and 6-7 in conference, opened the match narrowly taking the first frame 25-23. In the second, the Viks found themselves down eight points, and not wanting a repeat of Northern Colorado, Schlatter blasted a kill that resulted in a twelve-point run and a second set victory.
“It felt like people like Garyn [Schlatter] and the upper-classmen made a decision that they weren’t ready to lose.” Seemann said. “Megan served really well. We got them out of system and we went on a blocking rampage; it was consecutive blocks and good transitions that changed the game.”
Offensively the serving of junior outside hitter Megan Ellis combined with the duo of Schlatter and freshman middle blocker Katie O’Brien proved to be a solid threat for the Vikings. Ellis led the Vikings in kills with 17, but her serving was one of the highlights. Ellis served for the entire Vikings 12-point run in the second set, and Schlatter dished out two of her 36 assists to O’Brien for crucial kills to keep the momentum in the visiting team’s favor.
With Ellis, Schlatter and O’Brien on the frontline, the Vikings were successful in the third and fourth sets. Portland State kept the ‘Jacks on their toes with a 25-23 third frame win and a more decisive 25-20 fourth set.
O’Brien and Schlatter both pulled down 12 kills against Northern Arizona. Schlatter earned a double-double in kills and assists, and O’Brien with kills and 11 blocks. This is the third time this season that O’Brien has grabbed 10-plus blocks.
Seemann discussed O’Brien’s blocking success on Saturday as a key to keeping the momentum in Portland State’s favor, and Schlatter talked about the importance of solid defense as well.
“[Good blocking] definitely helped a lot just because it gets them out of system and it makes their hitters try different things and we were ready for those changes,” Schlatter said.
Defensively senior libero Nicole Bateham had 12 digs against the Lumberjacks, combined with her 12 digs on Thursday also; the weekend set the senior above the 1,000-dig mark at 1,019 for her career.
The Vikings hit the road this upcoming weekend, as the team is slated for a non-conference match against Seattle on Friday, before heading back to regular conference action on Saturday against third ranked Eastern Washington. The Eagles sit at 9-5 in conference just one match behind the Vikings. Both games are set for a 7 p.m. start.