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CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Portland State volleyball team got back to its winning ways with a three-set sweep of Southern Utah Saturday night in Cedar City, UT. The Vikings won by scores of 25-20, 25-14, and 25-20 while out-hitting the Thunderbirds .237-to-.084 in the match.

The Vikings evened their overall record at 8-8 while moving to 5-1 in Big Sky Conference play keeping up with North Dakota which stayed perfect at 5-0 with a win Saturday. The Thunderbirds fell to 2-14 overall and 1-5 in conference play.

Senior outside hitters Jaklyn Wheeler and Aubrey Mitchell led the Vikings with 13 and 10 kills respectively. Wheeler hit .357 (13-3-28) while Mitchell hit .588 (10-0-17) with no attacking errors. 

Garyn Schlatter picked up 36 assists and seven digs in the win while Kasimira "Kasi" Clark added a match-high 19 digs. Six Vikings combined for nine blocks in the match led by Katie O'Brien's five.

The first set stayed neck-and-neck throughout with 11 ties and nine lead changes. The Vikings fought with the Thunderbirds before taking a four-point lead at 14-10 after going on a 4-0 run. The T-Birds pulled to within one at 16-15 before tying the set at 17-17.

After trading points, the Vikings went up by two at 20-18 after back-to-back kills from Wheeler. Portland State closed out the set on a 5-1 run which included kills from Wheeler and O'Brien before Schlatter ended it with an ace.

The Vikings combined for 19 kills in the first with Mitchell and Wheeler each recording five. They hit .318 as a team in the first set while holding the T-Birds to a .132 average.

The score stayed close through the first part of the second set before the Vikings took control and ran away with it. With the score tied at 10-10, PSU took 15 of the next 19 points to win the second set 25-14. Leigh-Ann Haataja put the Vikings up 19-14 with a kill before serving out the set. PSU finished on a 7-0 run.

The Vikings' hot hitting continued in the second set as they hit .324. Wheeler hit .556 with a team-high five kills and no errors in the second. PSU out-blocked SUU 4-0 in the set.

Portland State jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the third set. Southern Utah tied the set at 5-5 before the Vikings went on a 5-0 run to go up 10-5 behind tough serving from Shelbi Miyashiro. The Vikings then built up a seven-point lead at 17-10. The Thunderbirds made a late run but the Vikings closed out the set and match with a 25-20 win in the third.

The Vikings head back out on the road next weekend for a pivotal road trip to Northern Colorado and North Dakota. UND remains the lone undefeated team in the conference.

NOTES: Portland State picked up its first road win of the season … Jaklyn Wheeler picked up her third double-digit kill performance of the year.