Vikings dust Grizzlies, ‘Cats

The Portland State women’s volleyball team extended its winning streak to three games with twin 3-1 victories over visiting Montana and Montana State over the weekend.

The Vikings defeated the Montana Grizzlies Friday for the 13th-straight time, then topped the Montana State Bobcats the following night. With four games remaining in the regular season, Portland State (15-8, 10-2 Big Sky) is now a half-game behind conference-leading Northern Colorado.

Freshman setter Garyn Schlatter finished just one dig shy of a triple-double on Friday and strongly set the pace for the Viking’s victory before a crowd of nearly 1,000 at the Stott. The Vikings took advantage of Montana’s continuous ball errors that eventually led to a 25-15 win in the first set.

Set two was a game of tug-o-war as the Vikings battled with the Grizzlies through 10 tied scores and six lead changes. Montana eventually claimed the set, 26-24. The last two points were off kills from Montana hitters Kayla Reno and Jaimie Thibeault, who perfectly placed their hits deep into the PSU court.

“I think we were just over-playing,” Schlatter said of set two. “We had too many people going for balls. If we could have just relaxed and trusted everyone to play their own positions, it would have helped out.”

Starting the third set trailing the Grizzlies, PSU’s senior outside hitter Whitney Phillips contributed 13 kills to bring the Viks to a 25-21 set win. The Vikings left Montana scrambling for the ball in the fourth set and shut down the Grizzlies, 25-23, to give Portland State another home victory. The set ended with both Phillips (21 kills, 14 digs) and Schlatter (11 kills, 32 assists) receiving yet another double-double. Sophomore Megan Ellis (12 kills) and freshman Aubrey Mitchell (10 kills) added to the PSU score, along with senior Diana Villalpando, who picked up 17 digs in the final set.

Saturday’s match-up against Montana State forced PSU to fight for points that eventually led to the Vikings taking the game 3-1 before a crowd of 223 at the Stott.

Set one kept both teams working for a lead run. The largest lead was near the end, when PSU took control after a timeout and won the set by three points with a block and kill by senior Lana Zielke and then a kill by Phillips to finish, 25-22.

Set two followed after the same give-and-take pattern, and kept the momentum shifting as nine tie scores were met between the Vikings and the Bobcats. With a variety of kills and tips being hit, set two made for great rallies and eventually brought PSU to game point, taking the win 25-21 with a ball handle error by Montana State.

Portland State got pushed back in set three with a few ball errors that gave way to Montana State stealing the set 25-20.

Patton opened the fourth set with back-to-back kills, and then a third kill that put the Viks up 6-0. Zielke had 12 kills and Phillips had 10. Throughout the fourth set, head coach Michael Seemann brought in a couple of reserves to help contribute to the 25-15 win.

Freshman Aubrey Mitchell had eight kills, and sophomore Alexa Rosendale had five with 10 digs. Freshman Garyn Schlatter ended the night with a double-double of 34 assists and 11 digs. Freshman Kaeli Patton achieved a career-high 11 kills.

“I think we played really well,” Patton said. “Everybody got to play and we performed well as a team tonight.”

With the next three games on the road, and the top spot in the conference standings to regain, PSU faces an uphill battle as it starts to wrap up the season with hopes of a Big Sky Championship.

“We’re in a position right now where we obviously have a target on our backs,” said head coach Michael Seemann.

The Vikings have won 15 consecutive Big Sky matches at home. They face Eastern Washington in Cheney, Wash., on Saturday before returning to the Park Blocks on Nov. 13 for their final home game of the season. As part of Senior Day, the team’s senior players will all be honored before the Stott Center crowd. ?