The Portland State women’s volleyball team rallied for back-to-back five-set wins last weekend. Now they must take that momentum home as the Viks take on the undefeated Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Friday and last season’s Big Sky runner-up the Northern Colorado Golden Bears on Saturday. Portland State currently stands at a 7-9 overall with a 3-1 conference record.
The Portland State women’s volleyball team rallied for back-to-back five-set wins last weekend. Now they must take that momentum home as the Viks take on the undefeated Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Friday and last season’s Big Sky runner-up the Northern Colorado Golden Bears on Saturday. Portland State currently stands at a 7-9 overall with a 3-1 conference record.
Even with the tough lineup this weekend, Vikings head coach Michael Seemann said the team is looking forward to being back at the Stott Center.
“Now we’re at home, and being at home always boosts a little of that confidence level, but we have two of the top teams in the conference here, so we can’t just rely on that.” Seemann said. “[We’re] just excited to play two of the top teams and really come out to play hard.”
Friday night’s opponent, Northern Arizona, is currently the only team in the Big Sky to have an undefeated record in both nonconference and conference matches. The Jacks beat both the Montana schools (who the Viks also beat last weekend) as well as Sacramento State (the only team to beat Northern Colorado this season). With their most recent win against Sacramento State, NAU set a school record for the teams longest undefeated run. Nationally, they remain one of just six Division-I volleyball teams to still hold an undefeated record.
Portland’s defensive focus will likely be on junior outside hitter Lexi Sulliven, who led NAU in kills against Montana and Sacramento State. Sullivan is normally joined by team kill leader, senior outside hitter Kobi Christensen, however, she sustained an injury on Friday which kept her off the floor for the weekend. As of press time, NAU has not released her status for the Portland State match.
After NAU, the Vikings will host Northern Colorado on Saturday, a team which, until this past weekend, held an undefeated conference record. The Bears are 8-5 overall, with a 2-1 conference record after losing to Sacramento State last Saturday. Also, before playing Portland State on Saturday, the Bears will take on conference leader Eastern Washington tonight.
Against Northern Colorado, the Viks will have to mindful of senior libero Amanda Arteburn, who finished first in the Big Sky for digs last season with 544. The senior currently holds a career record of 1,366 digs and is working toward becoming the Bear’s all-time record holder in the category.
After a shaky preseason, a young Vikings team hopes they have started to find their mark. The home team goes into the weekend with a three-match winning streak. They most recently swept the Montanas on the road in a pair of thrilling five-set matches.
The Viks were led by junior outside hitter Megan Ellis, who has stepped up her play this season and is leading the team in kills so far. Ellis has totaled 211 kills through 16 games, while sophomore outside hitter Aubrey Mitchell has posted the second highest total with 100.
“I think Megan’s done a great job of being opportunistic offensively,” Seemann said. “She’s leveled out her passing game and serves well, and she’s also starting to defend well too.”
With Ellis on the forefront offensively, senior libero Nicole Bateham has controlled the defensive end. Bateham has 268 digs on the year. Seemann commented that the team is starting to find a good rhythm on the court that will be crucial if they want to see victories this weekend.
Sophomore setter Garyn Schlatter discussed last week’s performance and how it will help against the raised level of competition this weekend.
“Getting two road wins is awesome. It’s really hard to play in other people’s home gyms, so that definitely sends a positive note into this weekend,” Schlatter said. “Also being able to pull out a win in a close five-set match and being able to play one point at a time is huge, especially when we play big teams like NC and NAU.”
This weekend’s action begins tomorrow night, Friday at 7 p.m. against Northern Arizona, while the Northern Colorado match is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. Both matches will be held at the Stott Center.
