Volleyball splits weekend matches

Portland State women’s volleyball suffered an unexpected 3-1 loss at Idaho State on Friday night, and then answered back by shutting out Weber State, 3-0, on Saturday to split victories on the weekend road trip.

The Viks (13-8, 8-2 Big Sky) left the Park Blocks tied with Northern Colorado for first place in the Big Sky Conference standings, but Friday’s loss to the Bengals bumped them out of the coveted position. They are now in second place, one game behind the Bears.

The Vikings came out with a bang on Friday, but were not able to hold the momentum over the four-set match. After the Bengals posted the first point of the first set, PSU’s sophomore outside hitter Megan Ellis hit back-to-back kills to give the Viks a lead they would take to the 25-20 set victory.

The match was the first time in 12 matches this season that the Viks were outhit by an opponent. Portland State hit .345 in the first set and held the Bengals to a .182 mark. But like they did in the match, the Bengals turned the hitting percentage in their favor, finishing with a .357 mark to PSU’s .266.

Senior outside hitter Whitney Phillips and Ellis led the Viks on offense. Phillips posted a match-high 21 kills, while Ellis recorded 15. Senior middle blocker Lana Zielke also chipped in 8 kills of her own.

Idaho State (13-9, 5-4 Big Sky) ended a 10-game losing streak to the Vikings, and the Bengals extended their home winning streak to five straight, but will remain in fourth place in the league.

The Bengals posted four players with double-doubles. Portland State freshman setter Garyn Schlatter tallied the Vikings’ only double-double, with 38 assists and 10 digs.

Saturday night was all about payback. The Vikings answered Friday’s loss with a 3-0 blanking of Weber State, but the victory was not without an early struggle.

Weber State (3-20, 1-9 Big Sky) held the lead for nearly the entire first set. They secured a five-point lead—their biggest of the night—at 19-13. The Viks brought the score to within one point with kills by Phillips, freshman middle blocker Cara Olden and senior middle blocker Christie Hamilton, along with a couple of attack errors by the Wildcats.

Weber State fought back, pushing to a match point 24-22. Phillips responded with three consecutive kills to give the Viks the lead by one. Two kills by Phillips and one by Ellis would seal the round one victory for the Viks, 28-26.

Sets two and three fell in Portland State’s favor, with two ending on a pair of service aces by Phillips. The Viks beat Weber State by 10 and 11 points in the final two sets to complete the match.

Phillips posted 21 kills for the second night in a row. Hamilton grabbed seven kills and Ellis posted six. On defense, senior libero Diana Villalpando recorded a match-high 10 digs.

The Vikings improved their hitting percentages from Friday night’s game, as they outhit Weber State in all three sets. They did allow Weber State to earn a .233 hitting mark in set one, to the Viks’ .255 hitting, but in the end Portland State snubbed the Wildcats’ .091 hitting with their .281 percentage.

The Vikings will get some Park Block action next weekend as they head home to face Montana and Montana State at the Stott Center. The Montana match is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday night, and the Viks host Montana State at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Both matches can be followed via live stats and video by visiting www.goviks.com. ?