Portland State at Northern Colorado & North Dakota
Thurs., 6 p.m. PT vs. UNC	Live Stats | Live Video
Sat., 10 a.m. vs. UND	Live Stats | Live Video
Player to Watch
	Aubrey Mitchell Senior / Outside HItter Mitchell leads the Vikings in hitting percentage (.331) and kills (64) in Big Sky play this season. She has hit over .500 with 10+ kills three times this season after hitting .588 (10-0-17) against Southern Utah (10/5).
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This Weekend
The Vikings (8-8 overall, 5-1 Big Sky Conference) continue their four-match road trip this weekend when they travel to Northern Colorado (5-11, 1-5) before heading to Big Sky leading North Dakota (11-7, 6-0) Saturday. Thursday's match with the Bears is slated for a 6 p.m. PT start while Saturday's match with UND will be a 10 a.m. PT start.

Live Stats
Live Stats will be available for both matches. Links can be found by visiting the volleyball schedule page on GoViks.com.

Live Video/Audio
Both matches will also be streamed live online at WatchBigSky.com. It is free to watch but viewers need to create a user name and password through the website, and tune in about five minutes before the match begins.

Last Time Out
The Vikings split their last road trip falling in three sets to Northern Arizona before winning in three against Southern Utah. Aubrey Mitchell led the Vikings with 13 kills in the loss to NAU while Garyn Schlatter picked up her third double-double of the season, 40th of her career, with 30 assists and 10 digs. Jaklyn Wheeler was the kills leader against SUU with 13 while Mitchell added 10 while hitting .588. It was the third time this season that Mitchell hit over .500 while recording 10+ kills. It was also the Vikings' first road win of the season.

All-Time Series Marks
Portland State leads the all-time series mark against Northern Colorado 18-9 overall and 10-4 in Big Sky play. The series is tied at 5-5 over the last 10 matches and UNC holds the Big Sky Tournament advantage 3-2 after ending PSU's season the past two years. Portland State and North Dakota met for the first time in 2012 splitting the season series with each team winning on its own court.

Up Next
The Vikings return home for their only two home matches during the month of October by hosting Idaho State (Oct. 17) and Weber State (0ct. 19). Idaho State enters this week's play one match behind the Vikings at 4-2 while Weber State is tied for last at 1-5. The matches will wrap up the first half of conference play for the Vikings.

Looking at Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado came into the season as the defending Big Sky Tournament champion but it will take a big turnaround for the Bears to repeat this season. The Bears were picked third in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll but are 5-11 overall and 1-5 in Big Sky play after dropping a five-setter to North Dakota Monday night at home. Northern Colorado took the first two sets before dropping the next three. UNC has lost five straight, including a non-conference loss to Texas A&M, since picking up their loan conference win at Montana State. The Bears went 14-6 in matches played at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion in 2012 but are just 2-4 at home this season and 0-3 in conference play at home.

The Bears are hitting .194 (fifth in the Big Sky) while opponents are hitting .221 (seventh). They are sixth in assists (11.42 aps), fifth in kills (12.20 kps), eighth in blocks (2.09 bps) and aces (1.00 per set), and third in digs (14.52 dps). In conference play UNC's hitting percentage has gone up to .255 but their opponent hitting percentage has also increased to .259.

Brianna Strong and Andrea Spaustat lead the Bears in hitting with marks of .290 and .270 respectively. Northern Colorado has no players in the Big Sky top 10 in kills. Kendra Cunningham leads the team  with 168 kills (2.80 kps) with Strong right behind at 163 (2.72 kps). Freshman setter Ashley Guthrie is fourth in the conference with 10.08 assists per set. Strong leads the team and is sixth in the conference in blocking with 1.15 blocks per set. Senior Merideth Johnson leads the conference with 4.87 digs per set just ahead of PSU's Kasimira "Kasi" Clark.

Last Season vs. UNC
The Vikings took the first meeting of the season in three sets winning 25-17, 25-17, and 26-24 on October 4. Three Vikings including Aubrey Mitchell and Jaklyn Wheeler posted double-digit kills as the Vikings out-hit the Bears .355-to-.263 in the match. PSU won a much tighter second match of the season in five sets on Nov. 10 in Greely, CO. The Vikings won by scores of 19-25, 25-18, 15-25, 26-24, and 15-10. Garyn Schlatter posted a double-double with 41 assists and a career-high 25 digs. The Bears got their revenge as they defeated the Vikings in straight sets in the Big Sky Championship semifinals in straight sets. They won by scores of 25-16, 25-21, and 25-17 to end PSU's season.

Looking at North Dakota
After going 10-10 in its first year in the Big Sky Conference in 2012, North Dakota has sprinted out to the league's only undefeated conference record at 6-0 to start 2013. UND was picked fourth in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll after returning all six starters and its libero from a year ago. UND got off to a shaky start to the season dropping six of its first seven. It found its stride and has gone 11-1 since. North Dakota is 4-2 at home this season where it averages and attendance of nearly 1,400 per match.

North Dakota has had one of the most prolific offenses in the conference this season and leads the league with a .267 team hitting percentage and is averaging a league-best 13.75 kills per set. UND is second in assists (12.78 aps) and fourth in blocks (2.49 bps). Opponents are hitting .204 this season against North Dakota. In conference play UND is hitting .286 with 14.52 kills per set, second to Portland State.

UND has two of the top four hitters in the conference in Lisa Parlich (.410) and Ronni Munkeby (.313).  Both are averaging 2.97 kills per set just behind Lexi Robinson's team-best 3.10 kills per set. Nikki Husfeldt is second in the league with 10.75 assists per set. North Dakota is not a particularly strong serving team as it is last in the league with 0.88 aces per set with no player in the conference's top 10.

Last Season vs. UND
PSU and UND split the season series last year in the first two meetings between the schools. Portland State took the first meeting in straight sets to move to 8-0 to start its Big Sky slate. Jaklyn Wheeler led the Vikings with a double-double (11 kills, 12 digs). North Dakota evened the series with a three-set win in Grand Forks, N.D. PSU hit less then .100 in the match as no Viking recorded double-digit kills.

Hot Hitting Mitchell
Senior OH Aubrey Mitchell hit .588 (10-0-17) connecting on 10 of her 17 attacks with no errors against Southern Utah (10/5). It was the first time this season that she was error free and the third time that she hit over .500 with 10+ kills in a match.

Lefty Leading the Way
Senior OH Aubrey Mitchell has excelled through the first part of the Big Sky Conference season. She leads the Vikings with 64 kills (3.37 kps) while hitting .331 with just 20 errors in 133 attempts. She leads the team with 73.5 points (12.25 points per match) and is second in blocks with 19 (1.00 bps). Mitchell is fifth in the conference during Big Sky play in kills and seventh in hitting percentage. She is also seventh in points per match. 

Inside the RPI
The first NCAA RPI (Rating Percentage Index) was released for volleyball on Oct. 7. The RPI is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. The Vikings are ranked 89th in the country and are the highest ranked Big Sky school thanks to a tough non-conference schedule. Northern Arizona (116), Idaho State (121), North Dakota (150) are the only other Big Sky schools ranked in the top 150. 

Happy in the Big Sky
Portland State opened the season 3-7 in 10 non-conference games. The Vikings hit .166 as a team while allowing opponents to hit .247. They averaged 12.47 kills, 2.09 blocks, and 1.12 aces per set during non-conference play. Since the beginning of Big Sky play, things have turned around for the Vikings. They are 5-1 and are hitting .237 (+.071) as a team. Opponents are hitting just .113 (-.134), tops in the conference. They are averaging 14.53 kills (+2.04), 2.89 blocks (+0.80), and most impressively 2.42 aces (+1.30) per set during conference play.

Aces, Aces, and More Aces
Serving tough has been one of head coach Michael Seemann's focal points since taking over the program in 2007. The Vikings began conference play with three straight double-digit ace performances. They posted 11 aces in their first two matches before increasing their season high to 12 against Montana. It was the first time that Portland State recorded 10-plus aces in three straight matches since 2006 when they did it against North Dakota State (10), Maryland-Baltimore County (12), and Weber State (12).

Comeback
Portland State's four-set win over Montana State was the first time the Vikings had lost the first set and won since winning in five sets at Northern Colorado last season (11/10/12). PSU dropped the first set against the Bobcats 21-25 before winning the next three by scores of 25-19, 25-17, and 25-23.

Home Sweet Home
Portland State has fared very well at the Peter W. Stott Center under head coach Michael Seemann. The Vikings are 65-14 (.823) overall under Seemann at home and 48-4 (.923) in Big Sky play. They are 7-3 overall at home this season.

Road Win
Portland State's win at Southern Utah (10/5) was its first away from the Peter W. Stott Center this season. The Vikings started the season 0-3 on the road and 0-2 at neutral sites before defeating the Thunderbirds in Cedar City, UT.

Spreading it Around
Portland State had seven players with six or more kills against Montana State (9/28). All seven had 10 or more attacks with three having over 20. Six of the seven recorded 10 or more points. Senior S Garyn Schlatter distributed the ball around the court with 42 assists. Senior OH Aubrey Mitchell was the only Vikings with double-digit kills (11).

No. 100+
Portland State's match against Pacific (9/7) marked the 100th career match for senior S Garyn Schlatter. She has now played in 109 career matches, which moves her into seventh on Portland State's Division I era career matches played list. Jessica Brodi and Diana Villalpando hold the record for the most matches played during the Division I era with 117. She has also played in 405 career sets which for fifth on PSU's DI career sets played list. She is 25 sets away tying Sarah Sirianni (2003-06) for the DI sets played record of 430.

Moving On Up
Junior Kasimira "Kasi" Clark entered the season eighth on PSU's career Division I digs list. She surpassed the 1,000-career dig mark and moved into fourth on the list against Eastern Washington (9/23) passing Diana Villalpando (2007-2010). She now  has 1,080 digs for her career, 55 shy of moving into a tie for third on the DI list and 10th on the all-time list with Nicole Bateham (2008-11) who had 1,135 for her career.

PSU vs. The Ranked
Portland State has faced four ranked opponents this season. The other 10 Big Sky Conference schools have combined for five matches against ranked opponents. Eastern Washington is the only team to have played more than one ranked opponent. North Dakota and Northern Colorado are the only other conference schools to face a ranked opponent.

Double-Doubles
A Viking has tallied a double-double nine times this season. Kaeli Patton picked up the first with 17 kills and 10 digs against Oklahoma (9/7). Patton leads the team with four on the season. Garyn Schlatter (assists, digs) has a pair this season as does Cheyne Corrado (kills, digs). Jaklyn Wheeler picked up her first double-double of the season with 12 kills and 10 digs against Montana (9/27).

Terminal Velocity
Senior OH Kaeli Patton led the Vikings to a 2-1 record on the opening weekend of the season at the Northwest Challenge with 31 total kills. Patton has emerged as an offensive weapon for the Vikings after playing much of 2012 as a service specialist and recording just one kill a year ago. Patton averaged 3.44 kps on the opening weekend while hitting .349 (31-9-63). Patton added a pair of assists, two service aces, 12 digs (1.33 dps), and six blocking assists.

Hot Hitting Vikings
The Vikings opened the 2013 season with team hitting percentage of .457 (48-11-81). It was the first time the Vikings hit over .400 since hitting .432 against Seattle on Oct. 7, 2010.

Three Over .500
Three Vikings hit over .500 with 10 kills each in their season-opening sweep of Gonzaga. Senior OH Kaeli Patton hit .524 with 13 kills, senior OH Aubrey Mitchell hit .600 with 11 kills, and senior OH Jaklyn Wheeler hit .615 with 10 kills.

Weekly Roundup

Week 1 – Northwest Challenge
The Vikings went 2-1 to open the season after hosting the Northwest Challenge. They opened with a straight sets win over Gonzaga (25-17, 25-19, 25-13). PSU then fell to No. 5 Washington in straight sets (22-25, 17-25, 10-25). A sweep of Boise State wrapped up the weekend for Portland State. The Vikings defeated the Broncos 25-15, 27- 25, and 25-16.

Week 2 – Midweek at Oregon and the PSU Volleyball Tournament
The Vikings fell in straight sets to No. 12 Oregon. After Oregon took the first set 25-10, the Vikings had set point in the second but could not finish out the set losing 28-26. Oregon took the final set 25-14 to complete the sweep. Senior OH Kaeli Patton led the Vikings with seven kills. She also racked up a career-high 18 digs along the way.

Portland State went 1-2 at the 2013 Portland State Volleyball Tournament. The Vikings opened the weekend with a straight set loss to No. 25 BYU. They took the first set against Oklahoma before dropping the final three, falling to the Sooners in four sets. Senior OH Kaeli Patton posted the Vikings' first double-double of the season with a career-high 17 kills and 10 digs. Portland State took the first two sets against their final opponent of the weekend, Pacific. The Tigers then took the next two, forcing a fifth set. The Vikings came back to win the fifth set 17-15 and take the match. Three Vikings, Kaeli Patton, Cheyne Corrado, and Garyn Schlatter, all recorded double-doubles against Pacific.

Week 3 - Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Volleyball Challenge
Portland State went 0-3 at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Volleyball Challenge in Honolulu. The Vikings opened the week by being swept by No. 10 Hawaii. PSU took the first set against Arizona before dropping the match in four. The Vikings dropped their final match of the challenge to Northwestern in straight sets. Senior outside hitter, and Honolulu, native Kaeli Patton was named to the all-tournament team.

Week 4 - Big Sky Opening Weekend
The Vikings opened Big Sky Conference play with back-to-back wins against Sacramento State and Eastern Washington. It was the first time this season that they won consecutive matches.

The Vikings easily dispatched the Sacramento State Hornets in straight sets. They took the match by scores of 25-20, 25-14, and 25-11. Aubrey Mitchell led the Vikings with 11 kills while posting a season-high six blocks. Kaeli Patton recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 blocks.

Portland State moved to 2-0 in Big Sky Conference play with a sweep of Eastern Washington. They won by scores of 25-17, 25-19, and 25-15. Junior OH Cheyne Corrado led the Vikings with 16 kills, one shy of her career high. She also added 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. The Vikings tallied 11 aces in the three sets matching their season high set in the previous match against Sacramento State. They had back-to-back double-digit aces for the first time this season.

Week 5 - Welcoming the Montana Schools
Portland State stayed perfect in conference play with wins over Montana and Montana State last week at the Peter W. Stott Center. Three Vikings tallied 12 kills apiece as they defeated Montana in straight sets, 25-12, 25-17, and 25-11. Jaklyn Wheeler picked up her first double-double of the season and hit a career-high .476 for the match. PSU also recorded its third straight 10+ ace performance with a season-high 12.

After dropping their first set in Big Sky play, the Vikings won three straight sets to win in four by scores of 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, and 25-23. Aubrey Mitchell led the team with 11 kills but it was a complete team effort as seven Vikings recorded six or more kills. Six Vikings had 10+ points in the match as well as senior S Garyn Schlatter spread the ball around with 42 assists.

Week 6 - First Big Sky Road Test
The Vikings split their last road trip falling in three sets to Northern Arizona before winning in three against Southern Utah. Aubrey Mitchell led the Vikings with 13 kills in the loss to NAU while Garyn Schlatter picked up her third double-double of the season, 40th of her career, with 30 assists and 10 digs. Jaklyn Wheeler was the kills leader against SUU with 13 while Mitchell added 10 while hitting .588. It was the third time this season that Mitchell hit over .500 while recording 10+ kills. It was also the Vikings' first road win of the season.

Season Notes

Portland State vs. The Big Sky
The Vikings are 134-136 (.496) all-time in conference play since moving to the NCAA Division I level and joining the Big Sky in 1996. PSU went 12-68 over its first five years in the conference under head coach Chris Stanley including a pair of 0-16 conference seasons. The Vikings began to turn it around under Jeff Mozzochi going 37-49 in his second go-around as head coach. Since current head coach Michael Seemann took over in 2007, the Vikings have been off the charts. They are 85-19 (.817) under Seemann in conference play but are even better at home going 50-4 (.926).

Preseason Poll
The Vikings were selected to win the Big Sky Conference regular season in a vote of conference coaches. Portland State received 95 total points in the poll including seven of the 11 possible first-place votes.

Big Sky Tournament
Portland State went 17-3 in Big Sky play in 2012 picking up its fourth conference regular season title under head coach Michael Seemann. The Vikings took the title on the final day of the regular season defeating Idaho State in four sets. By virtue of winning the conference regular season title last season, the Vikings will host the Big Sky Tournament Nov. 29-30 at the Peter W. Stott Center. It will be the fourth time the Vikings have hosted the tournament, first since 2011.

Last Season
PSU finished the 2012 campaign with a 21-11 overall record and a 17-3 conference record winning the regular season title. The Vikings made a quick exit in the Big Sky Tournament, falling in straight sets to Northern Colorado in the semifinals.

Experience
The Vikings enter the season with an extremely experienced squad. Twelve of the 14 student-athletes on the roster are upperclassmen (six seniors, six juniors).

Strong Defense
Head Coach Michael Seemann and the Vikings have prided themselves in their defensive play over the years. In the first six seasons under Seemann, opponents hit just .164. PSU has led the Big Sky in opponent hitting percentage four of the six years.

Trio of Tournaments
Portland State will host three tournaments in 2013: two non-conference tournaments to start the season and the Big Sky Tournament in November. It is the first time since 2003 that the Vikings have hosted two non-conference tournaments.

Making Her Mark
Kasimira "Kasi" Clark made her mark on the Portland State records book in 2012 by setting the school's all-time single-season digs mark with 635. Her record propelled her into being named the conference's Libero of the Year.

Newcomer Back for More
Senior OH Jaklyn Wheeler was named the Big Sky's Top Newcomer in 2012 after leading the Vikings with 423 kills for the season. Wheeler transferred from Oregon prior to the 2012 season. Wheeler is also coming off of a season-ending knee injury in the Vikings' final regular season of 2012.