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PORTLAND, Ore. – With their season slipping away, the Portland State volleyball team rallied from two sets down for an incredible 3-2 victory over Montana in the second semifinal of the Big Sky Championship on Friday night at the Stott Center.

The Vikings (20-8) got off to a horrid start, before coming back for a 18-25, 18-25, 25-13, 25-22, 15-12 victory.

The top-seeded Vikings move on to face No. 2 Northern Colorado at 7 p.m., tomorrow night. The winner of the championship match earns the Big Sky's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

The Vikings turned the tables coming out of the break after an abysmal first two sets. They committed 20 attack errors over those first two frames, but had just four in easily winning set three. PSU scored the first four points and led 8-1 after a Montana error. Later, another bad swing by Montana made it 16-5, prompting Grizzlies coach Jerry Wagner to call his second timeout. It didn't work, though, as Montana wouldn't get any closer than seven points the rest of the way.

"I told them 'we just need to relax and play ball and don't be afraid to lose. Because right now we are going to lose without even putting up a fight.' I also told them to be patient offensively and get back to our game plan," said PSU Head Coach Michael Seemann about what he told his team during the 10-minute intermission.

The Vikings kept the heat on in the next stanza. After the teams traded the first two points, the Vikings scored the next three and led the rest of the way.

Back in the match, the Vikings kept the momentum in the deciding set, riding the enthusiasm of their fans. Up, 6-5, the Viks scored three of the next four points, getting two kills from Whitney Phillips and another from Lana Zielke. After Montana got to within one at 11-10, PSU finally started to pull away.

"Before the match we talked about keeping our poise, we talked about things like being patient, and we did neither of those things those first two sets, nor did we even come close to carrying out our game plan," Seemann said.

"I couldn't be more proud of how we fought back. The girls knew their season was on the line and they didn't want it to end."

After the match started out with four early ties, the Griz pulled away from a 4-4 score and led the rest of the set. Three straight attack errors by the Viks put Montana up 7-4 and the Grizzlies finished the frame with four blocks while limiting Portland State to .085 hitting.

Portland State appeared to be getting back on track in the second set and held leads of 8-5 and 10-8, before the Grizzlies took control. Montana scored seven of the next eight points, benefiting from six Portland State errors. The Vikings never seriously threatened again.

The Vikings got their customary strong performance from Phillips, who led all players with 21 kills, while adding 20 digs. But it was a few reserves that helped save the day.

Sophomore Alexa Rosendale came through with 16 digs and nine kills after not playing since October 30. Backup libero Nicole Bateham played the final three sets, recording six digs and playing outstanding defense in the backrow, while freshman Aubrey Mitchell tallied eight kills.

"Nicole did a great job coming in for us, serving well, passing well and digging the ball," said Seemann. "I was also extremely proud of the way Alexa performed. She came in and took some gutsy swings and she defended well for us. To do that and to not have played in quite awhile is huge.

"And Aubrey, she's a special kid, but she's still a freshman. You have to be patient with her. You get a couple of freshman errors from her, but mostly we got a lot of good solid swings from her. She also was good blocking tonight. You won't see it in the box score but she had a lot of touches at the net."

Zielke added 13 kills and a career-high eight digs, while setter Garyn Schlatter set a career-high with 50 assists.

Montana, the No. 4 seed, received 17 kills and eight blocks from all-conference middle blocker Jaimie Thibeault. The Grizzlies tallied 101 digs, getting 36 from Brittany Brown.

NOTES: The Vikings will play for the Big Sky Championship for the fourth straight season ... PSU reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth straight year ... the Viks have won 14 in a row over Montana ... Christie Hamilton added nine kills for PSU, while Villalpando had 19 digs ... Portland State had just 13 attack errors over the final three sets after committing 20 over the first two ... this was the Vikings' second comeback win this year after trailing 2-0. They also rallied at Eastern Washington on Nov. 6. Prior to this year, they hadn't rallied from a two-set deficit for a victory since the 2007 Big Sky Championship against Weber State ... PSU's only two victories this season when hitting less than .150 both came against Montana. They hit .139 in a 3-1 victory in Missoula on Sept. 18.