Complete game notes (PDF)

THIS WEEK: Portland State heads out for its final road trip of the regular season, traveling to the state of Washington for a pair of matches. The Vikings (14-12, 10-4 Big Sky) play a non-conference match at Seattle U (5-19) on Thursday at 7 p.m., before taking on Eastern Washington (13-12, 9-5 Big Sky) on Saturday at 7 p.m.

MATCH NO. 27
at Seattle (5-19)
Nov. 10  •  7 p.m.  •  Seattle, WA

SERIES INFO
All-Time Series: PSU 5-0
At SU: PSU 2-0    
Streak: PSU 5    
Last Meeting: PSU 3, SU 2; 8/31/11

COVERAGE
Live Stats: GoSeattleU.com
Video: GoSeattleU.com

MATCH NO. 28
at Eastern Washington (13-12, 9-5 Big Sky)
Nov. 12  •  7 p.m.  •  Cheney, WA

SERIES INFO
All-Time Series: EWU 26-23
At EWU: EWU 14-6
Big Sky Series: EWU 23-8
At EWU Big Sky Series: EWU 13-2    
Streak: PSU 6    
Last Meeting: PSU 3, EWU 0; 10/15/11

COVERAGE
Live Stats: GoEags.com
Audio/Video: Big Sky TV (B2TV.com)

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Both matches this week will feature live stats and a live audio/video feed. Seattle U will be doing a video feed, while Saturday's conference tilt at Eastern Washington will go through Big Sky TV. Links for everything can be found by visiting GoViks.com and clicking on the LIVE EVENTS tab.

PSU-SEATTLE SERIES NOTES: Portland State has now won all five previous meetings with Seattle after defeating the Redhawks, 3-2, back on Aug. 31, at the Stott Center. Seattle won the first two sets in that match, before the Vikings stormed back for the victory. In Seattle, PSU is 2-0, including a 3-1 win on Aug. 27, 2010, and a sweep on Oct. 7, 2009.  For the second straight year, these two will face off twice in season.

PSU-EASTERN WASHINGTON SERIES NOTES: Only two league opponents have a winning record against the Vikings in Big Sky matches and Eastern Washington is one of them. The Eagles lead the overall series, 26-20, and the Big Sky series, 23-8. In Cheney, EWU leads 14-6 overall and 13-2 in league tilts. The Eagles had won 14 in a row at home – including a victory in the '04 Big Sky tourney – in the series from 1996-2008, but Portland State has won the past two matchups at Reese Court. PSU's 3-1 victory in 2009 was their first in Cheney since 1985. The Vikings have won the past six contests between the two for their longest winning streak in the series since 11 straight victories from 1980-87.

GOING AFTER THE DAM CUP, AGAIN: With a victory over Eastern Washington on Saturday, Portland State can clinch the Dam Cup for the second straight season. A rivalry series between PSU and EWU that was started last year, the so-named rivalry refers to the four dams linking Oregon and Washington that one passes on the 339-mile drive from the Portland State campus to the Eastern Washington campus. Located along the Columbia River, they are Bonneville Dam, The Dalles Dam, the John Day Dam, and the McNary Dam. Points are earned from the teams playing each other in five sports: football (4 pts), soccer (1 pt), volleyball (2 pts each victory), men's and women's basketball (2 pts each victory).  There are 17 points possible and nine is needed to secure the Dam Cup. PSU already has seven points having won the football game, the soccer match and one volleyball contest this season. Last year, PSU won the cup, 9-8.

VIKS TO HOST BIG SKY TOURNAMENT: After winning last year's Big Sky regular season title, PSU will serve as the host to the 2011 Big Sky Conference Championship, Nov. 25-26. Pacific Medical will serve as this year's primary sponsor. The top four teams advance to the postseason. However, if PSU is not one of the four teams, they are still guaranteed a play-in game on the 25th. If that play-in game were needed, it would occur on the morning of the 25th, with the semifinals that night. The title match is set for the 26th at 7 p.m. A tournament central home page can be found on the volleyball page of GoViks.com. It is on the right hand side and includes game times, ticket information and hotel information. For tickets call 1-888-VIK-TIKS.

WHAT A COMEBACK!: In their 2011 home opener, the Vikings found themselves down 2-0 against Seattle, a team they entered 4-0 all-time against. But behind the play of several underclassmen, PSU rallied for the 3-2 victory. Junior Megan Ellis finished with a match-high 18 kills, but the Vikings also got outstanding contributions from a trio of sophomores – Aubrey Mitchell, Kaeli Patton and Garyn Schlatter – and a pair of freshmen – Leigh Ann Haataja and Katie O'Brien. Patton came off the bench to record 12 kills, a .400 hitting percentage and five aces, all of which were career highs, while Mitchell had eight of her career-best 11 kills over the final two sets. Schlatter dished out 51 assists to go along with six kills, nine digs and a career-high seven blocks. Haataja had 10 blocks to help the Vikings finish with 17 team blocks, their most since they recorded the same total against Eastern Washington on Nov. 29, 2008. Finally, O'Brien registered eight kills and six blocks.

SENIOR NIGHT IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER: The Vikings will hold “Senior Night” in their final regular season home contest against Sac State on Nov. 19. Prior to the match, PSU will honor its lone senior, Nicole Bateham. A 5-foot-7 defensive specialist/libero, Bateham redshirted in 2007 and has since played a big role in the Vikings' backrow. Including her redshirt season, Bateham has seen Portland State win 97 matches, three Big Sky titles and make two trips to the NCAA tournament. She ranks third all-time on the Park Blocks in digs during PSU's NCAA DI era (1996-present).

SEEMANN APPROACHING 100 WINS: Fifth-year Head Coach Michael Seemann is approaching 100 wins for his career. At 97-46, Seemann has the best record of any coach in the Big Sky over the past four seasons. He is also a league-best 62-16 since taking over as the head coach in 2007.

BACK TO THEIR WINNING WAYS: With six freshmen on the roster and three starters lost from last year's NCAA tourney team, Portland State has experienced some growing pains this season. Four freshmen are playing major minutes and a fifth – Tineke Bierma – has seen her role increase the past seven matches after fellow frosh Cheyne Corrado went down with an injury. PSU started the year 4-1, but then lost eight in a row. Since then, though, they have won 10 of their past 13 and had a five-match winning streak from Oct. 15-29. Their win at Idaho State on Oct. 22 evened their record at 11-11 and put them at .500 for the first time since Sept. 3. Their hitting and blocking numbers are much improved over the past 13 matches as they have a .222 percentage and are averaging 2.91 bps. Through the first 13 contests, when they were 4-9, PSU hit .146 and averaged 2.33 bps.

SHAPING UP THE BIG SKY RACE: With two weeks left in the regular season, Northern Colorado leads the Big Sky standings with a 10-3 record. The Bears are one-half game up on PSU (10-4) and 1.5 games up on Eastern Washington (9-5). Sacramento State (7-5) is 2.5 games back, Idaho State (6-6) is 3.5 games back, and NAU and Montana (6-7) are both 4.0 games back. Weber State (2-10) and Montana State (2-11) have been eliminated from contention for the Big Sky tournament. Below is a look at the remaining matches left for the six teams (other than PSU) that can still qualify for the tourney:

Northern Colorado: Nov. 11, at Idaho State; Nov. 12, at Weber State; Nov. 19, at Northern Arizona ... Eastern Washington: Nov. 12, vs. Portland State; Nov. 18, vs. Sacramento State ... Idaho State: Nov. 11, vs. Northern Colorado; Nov. 12, vs. Northern Arizona; Nov. 18, at Montana; Nov. 19, at Montana State ... Sacramento State: Nov. 10, vs. Montana State; Nov. 12, vs. Montana; Nov. 18, at Eastern Washington; Nov. 19, at Portland State ... Northern Arizona: Nov. 11, at Weber State; Nov. 12, at Idaho State; Nov. 19, vs. Northern Colorado ... Montana: Nov. 12, at Sacramento State; Nov. 18, vs. Idaho State; Nov. 19, vs. Weber State.

SEEING DOUBLE: Six different Viking players have recorded double-doubles this season and PSU has a total of 28, which is the third most in the Big Sky. Megan Ellis leads the team and is tied for fourth in the league with 11, Garyn Schlatter has nine to tie for sixth, while Cheyne Corrado (3), Dominika Kristinikova (3), Aubrey Mitchell (1) and Katie O'Brien (1) have the other double-doubles for PSU.

RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Only three players in the Big Sky have pulled off the rare double-double of 10-plus kills and 10-plus blocks, and Portland State has two of them. Idaho State's Vanessa Muir was the first to accomplish it on Oct. 15 against UNC, with 10 kills and 10 blocks. PSU's Aubrey Mitchell did in seven nights later at Idaho State with 18 kills and 10 blocks. Then on Nov. 5, Katie O'Brien tallied 12 kills and 11 blocks for PSU in their victory at Northern Arizona. Before Mitchell did it, the last Viking to pull it off was Erica Jepsen on Nov. 1, 2007, at Northern Colorado.

THE BIGGEST IN THE SKY: With their victory over Northern Arizona on Nov. 5, Portland State reached the 10-win barrier in Big Sky play for the seventh straight season, becoming the only team to do so. Since 2005, PSU is a conference best 86-22 in league matches, and they have never finished lower than second place in the final standings.  

INSIDE THE RPI: Despite their second-place standing in the Big Sky, the Vikings are fifth amongst league teams in the NCAA RPI rankings released Nov. 7. Northern Colorado is the highest ranked team at 144, followed by Sac State at 151, NAU at 160 and Idaho State at 174. PSU is ranked at 194, Eastern Washington is at 197, Montana is at 208, Weber State is ranked 271st and Montana State is at 301.

THE KEY TO A “W”: Over the past four-plus season under Michael Seemann, there has been one glaring key to a Portland State victory – winning the hitting percentage battle. The Vikings are 13-0 this season when outhitting their opponent and 94-6 (94%) since 2007. When they get outhit, PSU is 3-40, including 1-12 this season. In Seemann's first year, the Vikings went 2-6 when getting outhit. But they then went 0-22 over the next three seasons, then were 0-9 this year until Sept. 24, at Montana State. The Bobcats outhit the Viks, but Portland State earned a 3-2 victory.

A NEW FORCE ON THE OUTSIDE: With the graduation of Big Sky MVP Whitney Phillips, the Vikings came into the 2011 season knowing they needed to find a new weapon on the outside. Junior OH Megan Ellis has stepped up to lead the way this season, averaging 3.48 kps, whick ranks second in the Big Sky. Ellis was the lone Viking named to the El Paso Sports Commission Volleyball All-Invitational Team during the opening weekend after averaging 4.42 kps, 4.63 pps and 3.00 dps. Ellis hit .284 over the four matches, went over the 10-kill mark three times and recorded a pair of double-doubles. She has led the team in kills in 19 times and has recorded 11 double-doubles, which is tied for the fourth most of any player in the league.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP: DS/L Nicole Bateham is the lone senior on the squad this year and not only has she been counted on to provide solid leadership, but she has also needed to set the tone in the backrow. Bateham is currently sixth in the Big Sky in digs per set (4.20) and has led PSU in that category 20 times. Additionally, she has registered double-digits in digs in 24 of 26 matches. Bateham has upped her game the past few weeks averaging 4.48 dps over the past 13 contests, after averaging 3.92 dps over the first 13.

DIGGING HER WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOK: Senior DS/L Nicole Bateham went over the 1,000-dig mark for her career this past Thursday at Northern Colorado. Earlier this season, Bateham joined the PSU career NCAA DI era top 10 for digs in the match against New Mexico on Sept. 10. She needed seven going in and ended up with 11 in the match. On Oct. 1 against Northern Colorado, Bateham recorded dig number 900 of her career after finishing with 10 in the contest. On Oct. 22, at Idaho State, Bateham dug 22 balls and pushed her career total to 955. That allowed her to pass up Marija Vojnovic (951/2006-09) for fourth place. She now has 1,019 digs and moved into the No. 3 spot this past weekened. Bateham also stands a good chance of joining the overall top 10 as she needs 25 more digs to tie Lori Weaver (1990-93) for the 10th spot.

PASSING UP HER COACH: Vikings sophomore setter Garyn Schlatter recently passed up assistant coach Katie Kaysinger for fifth place in the PSU DI era record book for assists. Schlatter moved up into the fifth spot against Northern Colorado on Oct. 1, sliding past Kaysinger, who tallied 1,561 assists as a part-time setter for PSU from 1998-2001. On Oct. 22, at Idaho State, Schlatter moved into fourth place. She now has 1,863 assists in her career. On Nov. 5 at Northern Arizona, Schlatter took over the No. 10 spot in the overall top 10, and with 10 more she'll move up to ninth place.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT: Freshman MB Katie O'Brien may have been a late NLI signee in April, but so far she has had the biggest impact of the six freshmen that Michael Seemann signed. O'Brien hit .579 during the season-opening tourney in El Paso, hitting over .300 in all four matches and actually hitting .500 or better in three of the contests. Against Southern, O'Brien hit .800 (8-0-10), and in the loss to UTEP she was one of the few bright spots, hitting .600 (6-0-10) to go along with five total blocks. Currently, O'Brien leads the Big Sky in blocking (1.34 bps) and is second in hitting percentage (.310). In Big Sky matches, she is averaging a remarkable 1.51 bps and hitting at a .343 clip. On the national scene she ranks 24th in blocking. Finally, with 134 blocks on the year, O'Brien needs just two more to have the second most in a single season at PSU during their DI era. The record is 180, set by Michelle Segun in 2007. She is followed by Erica Jepsen, who tallied 135 in 2009.

SOLO STOPS: Of Katie O'Brien's Big Sky-leading 134 blocks, 24 of them have been solo stops, which also leads the league. That number is the fifth best in a single season at PSU during their DI era and are the most by a PSU freshman since Jessica Vanzant had 23 in 2003. The PSU DI era record is 34, set by Michelle Segun in 2007.

HOT IN THE MIDDLE: Just like fellow frosh MB Katie O'Brien, Leigh-Ann Haataja (Hot-E-uh) has shown some glimpses of greatness in her first season at PSU, as she is currently sixth in the Big Sky in blocking (1.05 bps) and eighth in league only matches (1.04 bps). Her most impressive performance of the year came against Seattle on Aug. 31, as she recorded nine kills, a .400 hitting percentage and 10 blocks to help PSU rally from two down for the 3-2 victory.

NET STUFFERS: Freshmen middle blockers Leigh-Ann Haataja and Katie O'Brien both have recorded 10 blocks in a match this season. Haataja was the first do it against Seattle on Aug. 31. Her 10 blocks were the most by a Viking since Erica Jepsen had 12 on Aug. 29, 2009 at New Mexico, and the most by a freshman since 2006. Jepsen was also the last frosh to have over 10 blocks, tallying 11 at Gonzaga on Sept. 2, 2006. O'Brien joined the elite company by registering 10 block assists against UC Irvine on Sept. 10. Then on Oct. 22 at Idaho State, O'Brien racked up a Big Sky leading 13 blocks and Aubrey Mitchell added a career-best 10. On Nov. 5 at NAU, O'Brien tallied her third double-digit block performance with 11, giving her the most in a season by a Viking since Michelle Segun did it four times in 2007.

BLOCK PARTY: As noted above, freshman Leigh-Ann Haataja and Katie O'Brien have produced big numbers blocking wise for the Viks in 2011. So far, those two, along with Aubrey Mitchell, have combined for 10 matches of at least eight blocks. The last time PSU had that many was in 2007 when there were 18 occurrances of a Viking recording at least eight blocks. Additionally, O'Brien is the only player in the conference to have their name appear more than once in the top 10 individual blocking performances on the season. She is on the list a remarkable four times – 13 blocks, 11 blocks, 10 blocks, and nine blocks.

ADD ANOTHER FROSH TO THE MIX: Freshman Tineke Bierma has played in all 25 sets over PSU's last seven matches after the injury to fellow frosh Cheyne Corrado. Through the first 19 matches, Bierma had seen action in just 15 sets. The Vikings tallest player at 6-foot-3, Bierma has averaged 2.20 kps and 0.52 bps, while hitting .218 the past seven contests after posting 1.13 kps, 0.40 bps and a -.050 hitting mark over the first 19 matches.