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PORTLAND, Ore. – Lana Zielke had 12 kills and hit .632 and Kaeli Patton added a career-high 11 kills to help Portland State knock off a pesky Montana State squad, 3-1, on Saturday night at the Stott Center.

Whitney Phillips chipped in 10 kills while hitting .412 as Portland State won by scores of 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-15.

The victory keeps PSU (15-8, 10-2 Big Sky) in the race for the conference title, one-half game back of first-place Northern Colorado (10-1).

The opening set wasn't decided until late as the teams continually traded the lead. There were 17 tie scores and the largest advantage was the final three-point margin held by the Vikings.

Montana State went up 22-20 on a PSU attack error and Vikings Head Coach Michael Seemann promptly called a timeout. The break in action stopped the Bobcats' momentum and Portland State scored the final five points, getting three kills from Whitney Phillips and the set-winning swing from Zielke.

The back-and-forth chess match carried over into the second stanza as there were eight ties within the first 18 points. Portland State gradually pulled away from a 9-all tie by scoring 10 of the next 13 points and led 19-12 after a service ace by Diana Villalpando.

Montana State wasn't done, though. The Bobcats rallied to knot the score up at 20-20 behind the play of Macy Page. The sophomore outside hitter came off the bench to record three kills early during the run and then she single-handidly scored the last three points on aces to tie the set.

But, once again, Portland State turned up the heat late, scoring five of the final six points to go into the intermission having won the first two sets.

After Montana State took set three, the Vikings wasted little time taking charge of the final frame and led the entire way. Patton opened the scoring with back-to-back kills and four points later the freshman from Honolulu added another to give PSU a 6-0 lead.

Seemann rested many of his starters over the final two sets, giving reserves such as Patton, Aubrey Mitchell and Alexa Rosendale time on the floor. Mitchell registered eight kills while hitting .538, and Rosendale added five kills and 10 digs.

Montana State, which fell to 10-14, 3-8 Big Sky, received 12 kills from Sarah Horton and a match-high 17 digs from Meghan Albiston.

Portland State now hits the road for three straight matches, starting with a contest at Eastern Washington on Nov. 6.

NOTES: PSU setter Garyn Schlatter posted a double-double with 34 assists and 11 digs ... Villalpando led PSU with 14 digs ... Dominika Kristinikova filled the stat sheet for the Vikings with 11 assists, eight digs and two aces ... Zielke also registered six total blocks, including two solos ... Montana State served up 13 aces, getting four from Rachelle Allen and three from Page ... PSU has won 12-straight in the series ... the Vikings have won 15-straight Big Sky home matches dating back to last season.