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SEATTLE – The Portland State volleyball team opened up its 2010 season with a not-so-easy 3-1 victory at Seattle on Friday night, getting a remarkable 32 kills from senior Whitney Phillips.

Set scores were 28-26, 25-22, 26-28, 25-18.

The Vikings swept by the Redhawks in their previous two meetings in 2008 and 2009, but with several new players seeing the first major action of their careers, Portland State struggled with floor chemistry at times on Friday night at The Connolly Center. Still, though, a win is a win for Vikings Head Coach Michael Seemann.

"I think its always hard to win the first one," said Seemann. "In terms of nerves, certainly we were in and out of the match quite a bit. But, I felt for the most part we settled down and did a great job defending.

"I think we are still at a point where we are trying to figure out the chemistry of the team in terms of who is going to taking bigger roles and cover more areas of the court. Certainly having a two-setter system for the first time in four years also adds a level of complication."

The Vikings lost five seniors to graduation from their 2009 Big Sky Conference championship squad, leaving some big holes to fill. That added up to four players seeing the first major minutes of their careers tonight.

The newcomers definitely helped in securing the victory, but the night still belonged to Phillips. A unanimous first team All-Big Sky pick a year ago, Phillips was the star on both sides of the net, producing 32 kills, a .344 attack percentage, 13 digs and one ace.

"We are extremely pleased with what she did," Seemann said, "she carried us quite a bit. I also felt like we carried her along at times too. She carried a big load for us tonight."

Phillips' 32 kills were the most by a Viking in almost four years, dating back to when Jessica Brodie hung 36 on San Francisco on Nov. 25, 2006.

The evening started off in favor of Portland State as the Viks ran out to a 4-0 lead in the opening frame. Seattle fought back and eventually took a 24-23 lead. That would be one of three set-points the Redhawks had, but they were unable to capitalize on any of them. With SU up 26-25, Phillips hammered home a kill, then PSU went back up on a Redhawks attack error. One play later, Phillips closed out the set with her ninth kill of the set.

Portland State rallied from an 18-15 deficit in set two and went up 20-19 on a service error by Julia Bonadio. The Viks ended up with a 25-22 victory and went into the break with what appeared to be a comfortable lead.

Seattle came out of the 10-minute intermission firing on all cylinders and took a 15-8 lead on a PSU attack error. The Viks came right back with a seven-point rally to tie it up, but eventually fell, 28-26.

In the final set, Portland State rolled out to a 22-7 lead as Seattle committed six attack errors in the opening minutes.

Sophomore Alexa Rosendale added a double-double for the Vikings, tallying a team-high 16 digs and 10 kills. Garyn Schlatter had 37 assists, seven kills, seven digs and two aces, while Christie Hamilton added five blocks and three service aces.

Also for PSU, Nicole Bateham had 15 digs, and Dominika Kristinikova dished out 19 assists and served up two aces.

Seattle got 16 kills and a match-best 19 digs from Cristin Richards, and 10 kills and four aces from Karina Miastkowska.

The Vikings are back in action tomorrow at 11 a.m. when they play Mercer at the University of Washington. The match will feature live audio and live stats, with links for both on GoViks.com.

NOTES: PSU is now 3-1 in season-openers under Seemann ... the Viks hit .229, while Seattle hit .164 ... PSU had nine aces, Seattle 10 ... Schlatter added four block assists ... Hamilton and Megan Ellis both added five kills ... Phillips had 10 kills in the third set alone ... the Redhawks had four set-points in set three before pulling out the 28-26 win ...