Vikings ship off for Sac State

Portland State volleyball has seen quite a turn for the better in the past couple weeks, but their recent rise will be put to the test when the Vikings hit the road to take on Sacramento State on Saturday. Last Friday, Portland State took down undefeated Northern Arizona in the Stott Center, but split the weekend with a loss to Northern Colorado, putting the Viks in a tie for fourth place in the Big Sky with a record of 8-10 overall and 4-2 in conference.

Even with the success against Northern Arizona fresh in their minds, Portland State will need an inspired effort against Sacramento as the Viks are just 1-16 at The Nest.

Sacramento State currently sits 8-9 overall and 3-1 in conference play, which places them third in the Big Sky. Although the Viks took the Hornets at the end of last season, Sac State has dominated the all-time series between the schools. This makes the Hornets just one of two conference opponents to hold an all-time winning record against Portland State.

The Hornets come into Saturday riding a three-match conference-winning streak, most recently beating Weber State 3-1 on the road. Non-conference results against San Jose State were not available as of press time.

Sac State’s defense may be the Viks’ biggest area of concern on Saturday as the Hornets held Weber State to a negative hitting percentage over four sets. Offensively, Sac State’s hitting was not much higher than their opponent at a low .072 percentage overall, but even with a low accuracy the Hornets posted higher numbers in kills, assists and digs.

Despite the daunting task facing the Vikings, the team will be bringing a lot of confidence with them on the road. In halting Northern Arizona’s 12-match winning streak, the Vikings brought the heat both offensively and defensively, holding the Jacks to only a .130 hitting percentage.

Three Vikings boasted double-doubles against the Lumberjacks—sophomore setter Garyn Schlatter, junior outside hitter Megan Ellis and the Viking leader of the night, freshman outside hitter Cheyne Corrado. Corrado stunned the Stott center crowd with her 17 kills and 18 digs.

Head coach Michael Seemann emphasized the importance of Corrado’s big performance, but he also noted that the tough team blocking from Portland State was providing Corrado with plenty of good opportunities.

Unfortunately, Portland State was unable to carry the intense blocking and hitting into the following evening against Northern Colorado, losing 3-2 in a close contest at home. After dropping the opening two sets, the Viks fought back to bring the game to a fifth set, but fell short 15-12 in the final frame. Following the loss to the Bears, Schlatter stressed that the Viks needs to pay special attention to the small details and highlighted important points for the team against Sacramento State.

“[We need to] be balanced and be able to read the pass and where the setters are positioning the play, but mostly we need to focus more,” Schlatter said.

Recently, Portland State has worked hard to control the tempo of each set, but with 10 underclassmen on the roster, the young Viks know that improving is a constant process.

“We need to execute our serves, [we need to] get the opponent out of system and try to get us ahead of their game, instead of them being faster than us all the time,” Corrado said.

With the graduation of star outside hitter Whitney Phillips last season, the team possesses a much more balanced hitting game. Instead of most hits coming from Phillips, there are now seven Vikings in the regular rotation who average more than 1.00 kills-per-set.

The Vikings’ top offensive performer this season has been Ellis, who boasts 229 kills this season and an impressive 3.37 kills-per-set. Also at outside hitter, sophomore Aubrey Mitchell has claimed a bigger role offensively than in her first year, as she holds the second most kills behind Ellis with 119. Schlatter has been steady at the setter position with 557 assists, and alongside her, junior setter Dominika Kristinikova has also made her mark with 165 assists.

The Hornets boast six players with more than 1.00 kills per set, four players with over 100 kills and two separate players with over 200 assists already this season. Sac State senior Eryn Kirby is one of Sacramento State’s biggest offensive weapons, leading the Hornets in kills with 194 and is second in aces with 15.

It’s sure to be an intense battle on Saturday night as Portland State tries to overcome their historic road woes at The Nest in Sacramento. The match is set for 7 p.m. and can be followed on GoViks.com.