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Match No. 20
Portland State (12-7, 7-1 Big Sky) at Idaho State (12-9, 4-4 Big Sky)
Friday, Oct. 22  •  6 p.m. PT
Pocatello, ID  •  Reed Gym
All-time Series: PSU leads 28-14
Big Sky Series: PSU leads 16-13
In Pocatello: PSU leads 10-8
Streak: PSU 10

Match No. 21
Portland State (12-7, 7-1 Big Sky) at Weber State (2-19, 0-8 Big Sky)
Saturday, Oct. 23  •  6 p.m. PT
Ogden, UT  •  Dee Events Center
All-time Series: PSU leads 26-15
Big Sky Series: WSU leads 15-14
In Ogden: WSU leads 10-8
Streak: PSU 2

THIS WEEK: After four straight home matches, Portland State hits the road to play at Idaho State on Friday and Weber State on Saturday. Both matches are set for 6 p.m. PT. Friday's match will mark the start of the second round of BSC play.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Both matches this week will feature live audio and video streaming through Big Sky TV as well as live stats. Links for both can be found on GoViks.com under the LIVE EVENTS tab.

THE WEEK THAT WAS IN PSU VOLLEYBALL: The Vikings went 2-0 last week, including picking up a crucial 3-2 victory over Northern Colorado on Friday night. The win moved PSU into a tie for first place in the Big Sky alongside the Bears. UNC led 2-1, before the Vikings rallied for the victory. Lana Zielke had a career-best 18 kills, Garyn Schlatter had a triple-double, and Megan Ellis and Whitney Phillips added double-doubles. On Saturday, PSU swept visiting Northern Arizona, getting 21 kills and 10 digs from Phillips, and 35 assists and six blocks from Schlatter.

SCHLATTER NAMED BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Setter Garyn Schlatter was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Monday, Oct. 18, after helping the Vikings to a 2-0 record last week. On Friday, the Canby, Ore., native posted the first triple-double by a Portland State player since 2007 as the Vikings claimed a 3-2 victory over first place Northern Colorado at the Stott Center. Schlatter played a key role in the Vikings Friday night victory, a win that moved PSU into a tie for the top spot in the Big Sky alongside the Bears. She set new career-highs with 48 assists and 11 kills while adding 15 digs to record the Vikings' first triple-double since Nique Fradella accomplished the feat on Nov. 17, 2007. A redshirt freshman, Schlatter hit .304 against UNC and also served up two aces and had five block assists. Against NAU on Saturday, Schlatter dished out 35 assists and had a career-best six total blocks as Portland State swept the visiting Lumberjacks. For the weekend she averaged 10.38 assists, 2.25 digs, 1.75 kills and 1.38 blocks per set. She is currently fourth in the conference in assists (8.63) and ninth in service aces (0.26). This is Schlatter's first ever weekly honor and the third of the season for Portland State.

PORTLAND STATE – IDAHO STATE SERIES NOTES: Portland State has won 10-straight in the series, including the last four in Pocatello. The Vikings have swept the last five matches, which includes a straight-sets victory (25-22, 30-28, 27-25) earlier this season on Sept. 25. In that match, PSU outhit ISU, .205-.172, and got 20 kills from Whitney Phillips and 18 digs from Diana Villalpando. The Vikings lead the all-time series, 28-14, and the Big Sky series, 16-13. While PSU holds a 10-8 advantage all-time at Idaho State, the Bengals lead 8-6 in conference matches.

PORTLAND STATE – WEBER STATE SERIES NOTES: PSU leads the all-time series, 26-15, but Weber State is clinging to a 15-14 advantage in Big Sky matches. The Vikings are 2-2 in Ogden over the past four seasons and got upset last season, 3-2, at the Dee Events Center. Weber State maintains a 10-8 lead in Ogden, including a 10-4 record in BSC matches. Earlier this season on Sept. 24, Portland State swept the Wildcats and limited them to a .061 hitting mark. PSU hit .275 and tallied eight aces, winning by scores of 25-21, 25-18, 25-14. Whitney Phillips led the way with 16 kills and 10 digs.

COMEBACK KIDS: In their big win over first place Northern Colorado on Friday, PSU rallied from a 2-1 deficit for the 3-2 victory. That marked the first time that the Vikings have won a match after being down 2-1 since Nov. 23, 2007, against Weber State in the Big Sky tournament.

GAINING MOMENTUM: After starting the year out slowly by losing six of their first nine matches, the Vikings have bounced back with a 9-1 record. Over that span, PSU is outhitting the opposition .260-.137, and has posted 64 service aces. That compares to just a .199 hitting percentage and 45 aces during their first nine matches when they were 3-6.

HOT HITTERS: The Vikings have outhit their opponents in 11-straight matches, tallying a .253 mark over that span. PSU has hit over .300 three times during their last nine matches, including a season-best .432 against Seattle on Oct. 7.

HOME SWEET HOME: After picking up two more victories at the Stott Center this past weekend, Portland State is now riding an 13-match winning streak in Big Sky home matches dating back to last year. In three-plus seasons under Michael Seemann, PSU is 27-2 in conference home regular season matches, going a perfect 8-0 in 2007 and 2009. The Vikings have lost only 12 sets at the Stott to BSC foes since 2007.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: PSU has gone 42-2 at home in Big Sky Conference matches over the past five seasons (7-0 in 2005, 8-0 in 2006, 8-0 in 2007, 6-2 in 2008, 8-0 in 2009, 5-0 in 2010). The Viks had a 29-match home conference winning streak that started in 2005 and lasted until a 3-2 loss vs. Sac State on Oct. 17, 2008. Overall since 2005, PSU has gone 56-8 at home and has lost just 45 sets, including only two in 2007, and has lost only 21 sets against conference foes.

SWEEPING BY THE OPPOSITION: Of their past nine victories, Portland State has swept six of those matches, including four of five conference home matches. Since 2007, PSU has 27 home conference victories, including 22 via the sweep.

TRIPLE-SIZED: Redshirt freshman setter Garyn Schlatter posted PSU's first triple-double since Nov. 17, 2007, when she racked up 48 assists, 15 digs and 11 kills vs. Northern Colorado on Friday night. The last Viking to accomplish the feat was Nique Fradella, against Sac State. It was also the first triple-double by a Big Sky player since NAU's Kelli Dallman did it last Nov. 21. In Friday's match, Schlatter set new career-highs for assists and kills, while hitting .304 and serving up two aces.

SEEING DOUBLE: For the first time in their NCAA Division I history (1996-present), Portland State had four players tally double-doubles in a match when Megan Ellis, Dominika Kristinikova, Whitney Phillips and Garyn Schlatter all did so at Sac State on Oct. 2. The last time they had three do it came in their final regular season match last year (Nov. 20) at Sacramento State, when Nique Fradella, Whitney Phillips and Lindsey Steele all accomplished the feat.

SEEING DOUBLE, PART TWO: Portland State players have tallied 26 double-doubles on the season, the most in the Big Sky. Whitney Phillips leads the team with 12, Garyn Schlatter has seven, Alexa Rosendale three, and Dominika Kristinikova and Megan Ellis both have two. PSU's five players with at least one double-double is the most of any conference team.

OCTOBER IS THEIR MONTH: Since 2005, the Vikings are 33-9 overall and 20-1 at home in the month of October. Of those 33 wins, 23 of them have come via the sweep.

THE BIG SKY LEADERS: Through five weeks of Big Sky play, the Vikings are leading five of the seven statistical categories in conference-only matches. PSU ranks first in opponent hitting percentage (.135), assists (13.80 aps), kills (14.60 kps), service aces (1.77 saps) and digs (17.23 dps). The Viks also rank second in hitting percentage (.243) and fourth in blocks (2.43 bps).

GETTING DEFENSIVE: Portland State has led the Big Sky in opponent hitting percentage in each of the past three seasons, but so far this year they have yet to hold the top spot in the conference rankings. They are slowly moving up, though, and are third this week (.179). However, in conference-only matches, PSU ranks first (.135). The Vikings started to turn the corner against Cal State Northridge on Sept. 11 and over the past 10 matches they have held their opponents to a combined .137 hitting mark, while outblocking them 2.56-1.74. PSU has also averaged 16.92 dps over that span, while their 10 opponents have averaged 14.36 dps.

SERVING UP ACES: The Vikings sit atop the Big Sky rankings in service aces, averaging 1.47 per set, and also are first in conference-only matches, averaging 1.77 per set. Over the past four matches, PSU is averaging 2.21 saps. After tallying a career-best six aces against NAU on Saturday, all of which came in set one, Whitney Phillips has taken over the lead in service aces per set in both the overall rankings (0.42) and conference-only rankings (0.73).

AMONG THE NATIONS BEST: Whitney Phillips has ranked in the top 10 nationally in kills and points per set in both 2009 and 2010. This year, Phillips is sixth in kills (4.93) and seventh in points (5.55), after finishing last season ranked fifth and sixth, respectively. She also is ranked 34th in service aces per set (0.42), while Lana Zielke is 88th in blocks per set (1.11).