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PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland State put together one of its best all-around efforts of the season on Saturday night, rolling to a straight-sets victory over visiting Eastern Washington at the Stott Center in Big Sky Conference action.

Megan Ellis had 14 kills and the Vikings hit .333, their second highest mark of the year, to sweep the Eagles, 25-15, 25-16, 25-17. Portland State outblocked Eastern, 9 to 3, and held the Eagles to just .082 hitting.

"Just an outstanding defensive effort tonight. We did a great job of covering our attackers all night long," said PSU Head Coach Michael Seemann.

"One thing we've really stressed lately is earning points as a team. We had good defensive coverage all night and our blocking was superb. It allowed our hitters to stay loose and confident."

The Vikings scored three of the first four points of the match and opened up a 10-3 lead after Tineke Bierma and Katie O'Brien teammed up to stuff Shelby Puckett at the net. Eastern Washington rallied to get within 13-9, but the Vikings answered with a 6-2 run to effectively put the set away.

Eastern Washington gained the early lead in the next set, going up 4-1 on a pair of kills by Kelsey Julian and two Portland State hitting errors. Kills by Megan Ellis and O'Brien stemmed Eastern's momentum, and Portland State went up 5-4 after back-to-back attack errors by the Eagles.

The set remained a back-and-forth affair until midway through when the Vikings used a 6-1 run to take control. Portland State led just 14-13 before Garyn Schlatter hammered home an attack from the left side, O'Brien had a kill from the middle and Ellis successfully executed a backrow attack. Schlatter later snuck an attack by the Eagles from her setter position, making it 20-14.

Eastern Washington held a quick lead in the final set, and the teams battled over the first 11 points, until Portland State began to pull away. The Vikings turned a one-point advantage into a 13-8 lead behind six kills, including two from Aubrey Mitchell. EWU managed to climb back into the match, pulling to within 16-15. But as they had all night, Portland State responded. The Viks benefited from five Eastern errors down the stretch and Mitchell had two more kills to help her squad earn the sweep.

Ellis finished the night with her team-leading eighth double-double after she dug 11 balls. The junior outside hitter hit .387.

Dominika Kristinikova also had a double-double for the Vikings, registering 10 assists and 10 digs.

Also for PSU, Mitchell tallied eight kills and a .316 hitting mark, and O'Brien finished with six kills and a .462 attack percentage. Schlatter handed out 30 assists, had seven kills and also recorded seven digs.

The Vikings (9-11) finished the first half of Big Sky play with a 5-3 mark. They are tied with Idaho State for third place, one game back of Northern Colorado and Sacramento State (6-2) for first.

NOTES: O'Brien, who leads the conference in blocking, had five on the evening ... Leigh-Ann Haataja chipped in five kills, three blocks and a .455 hitting mark for PSU ... Nicole Bateham had 11 digs for the Viks ... in her first extended playing time in several weeks, Bierma had some important points, finishing with five kills and a pair of blocks ... EWU fell to 8-11, 4-4 Big Sky ... the Vikings open up the second half of league play at Weber State next Friday ... PSU plays five of its final eight Big Sky matches on the road.