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PORTLAND, Ore. –
Whitney Phillips had 21 kills and six service aces, and
Garyn Schlatter dished out 35 assists and recorded six blocks to lead Portland State past a pesky Northern Arizona squad on Saturday night in Big Sky Conference volleyball action.
It wasn't easy, but the Vikings escaped with a straight-sets victory in a match that was closer than the final score. Set scores were 25-22, 25-23, 25-16.
Portland State's victory was their ninth in their past 10 matches and extended their home conference winning streak to 13. They are now 12-7 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky, tied with Northern Colorado for first place.
PSU hit poorly in the first two sets, but Phillips served up all six of her aces in the opening frame and
Christie Hamilton had five kills to help the Vikings get the set one victory. Phillips racked up eight kills in the second set as Portland State mounted a late rally.
NAU took a 23-19 lead on a Vikings' attack error, but PSU scored the final six points, benefiting from three Lumberjack errors while getting two kills from Phillips and an ace from
Diana Villalpando.
The Lumberjacks came out of the break on fire and led 5-0 after a kill by Kobi Christensen. Three points later they were up 7-1, before the Vikings' offense came alive. Back-to-back kills by Hamilton started the comeback and PSU eventually tied the score at 9-9.
PSU took the lead for good at 11-10 when Schlatter set
Lana Zielke perfectly in the middle.
The Vikings hit .556 in the final set and finished the evening with a .248 percentage. Hamilton hit .429, tallying 11 kills, and Phillips registered a .311 mark.
Phillips also picked up 10 digs for her team-leading 11th double-double.
Christensen led the Lumberjacks with 14 kills.
Portland State returns to action next Friday at Idaho State. Match time in 6 p.m. PT.
NOTES: Phillips set a new career-high for aces, while Schlatter did the same with her six total blocks ... PSU has won 12-straight over NAU, including four-straight sweeps at the Stott Center ... Villalpando led Portland State with 14 digs ... Zielke chipped in four blocks as PSU outblocked NAU, 10.0-2.0 ... Portland State has outhit the opposition in 11-consecutive matches.