Northwest Challenge
Match 1	Aug. 28	vs. Boise State	6:00 p.m. PT	Live Video	Live Stats
Match 2	Aug. 29	at Gonzaga	10:00 a.m. PT	Live Video	Live Stats
Match 3	Aug. 29	vs. #10 Washington	4:00 p.m. PT	Live Video	Live Stats

Complete Release in PDF Format

The Weekend: The Vikings open their 2015 campaign this weekend at the Northwest Challenge against Boise State. The Vikings and Broncos face-off Friday, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. at the Martin Centre on the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. Portland State will then face the Bulldogs on Saturday, Aug. 29 at 10 a.m. followed by a showdown with No. 10 Washington at 4 p.m.

Live Coverage: All three matches at the Northwest Challenge will feature live stats as well as a live video feed. Links for both can be found on the schedule page at GoViks.com. 

Follow the Vikings: Fans can follow the Vikings all season long on Twitter. Follow @ViksVB for all the latest news, notes, and behind the scenes photos. 

Boise State Notes
• Shawn Garus is in his seventh season leading the Broncos. He is 94-92 overall at Boise State. 
• Boise State went 18-12 overall and 11-7 in Mountain West Conference play and finished tied for fourth. 
• Boise State returns 10 letterwinners including five starters and its libero from 2014. 
• SO OH Sarah Nobley led the team in kills in 2014 with 432 (4.08 kps). 
• Boise State was selected to finish second in the Mountain West in the conference's preseason poll.  

Gonzaga Notes
• Head Coach Dave Gantt is in his seventh year leading the Bulldogs. He is 59-112 overall at Gonzaga.
• Gonzaga went 17-12 overall and 8-10 in West Coast Conference play in 2014. 
• Gonzaga returns 12 letterwinners and all of its starters from last year. 
• RS-SR Savannah Blinn led the Bulldogs with 564 kills (4.62 kps). She hit .304 on the season. 
• SR OH Jordan Gasser (364) and JR OH McKayla Ferris (319) each added over 300 kills in 2014. 

Washington Notes
• Washington enters the season No. 10 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I Coaches Preseason Poll. 
• Washington's Keegan Cook is in his first year leading the Huskies. He was an assistant coach at Washington the past two seasons.
• Washington went 61-6 over the past two seasons including a NCAA Final Four appearance. 
• Washington went 31-3 in 2014 and won its first 25 matches of the year. 
• The Huskies return 12 letterwinners from 2014 including six starters and their libero. 
• Washington was selected to finish third in the Pacific-12 Conference in the preseason coaches poll. 

Schedule Notes
• Portland State opens the season at the Northwest Challenge for the fourth-straight season, eighth-straight overall. Portland State is 8-13 all-time at the Northwest Challenge taking two matches on the weekend three times. 
• Portland State and the University of Portland will co-host a tournament on the second week of the season. It is the first tournament hosted by the Vikings since the 2013 Big Sky Tournament. 
• The Vikings will face off against a pair of Pacific-12 Conference foes in 2015 when they face both Washington and Washington State. PSU lost in straight sets against both in 2014. Portland State fell by a combined 10 points against the Cougars on their home court. 
• The Big Sky Conference is in the second year of it's "un-balanced" schedule. Portland State will face everyone in the South Division (Idaho State, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, Sacramento State, and Weber State) twice, both home and away. Portland State will face everyone in the North Division (Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, Montana State, North Dakota, and Northern Colorado) just once, alternating home and away each season.
• The top team in each division will get the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the Big Sky Volleyball Tournament hosted by the No. 1 seed Nov. 19-21. Eight teams will earn seeds into the tournament with seeds 3-6 going to the next six best teams decided by conference record regardless of division.

Team Notes
• Portland State returns the youngest team in the Big Sky Conference with just four returning letterwinners, all sophomores. Portland State adds nine newcomers for the 2015 season, seven freshmen. 
• Portland State returns no outside hitters from 2014, two graduated and two left the program. The four outside hitters, along with two middle blockers who also graduated, accounted for 1,018 of the teams 1,265 kills or 80.5 percent of the team's kill production. They also lost 62.1 percent of their total blocks from a year ago. 
• Portland State had its second lowest kills per set mark dating back to 1986. The Vikings averaged 12.16 kills per set in 2014, lowest since 1999 (11.86). 
• The Vikings will have to replace their all-time leader in digs and two-time Big Sky Libero of the Year, Kasimira "Kasi" Clark. Clark finished her career with 1,851 career digs. 
• Portland State went 9-20 overall and 7-9 on Big Sky play in 2014, their fewest win in each under Head Coach Michael Seemann. 
• Portland State hit .163 as a team while opponents hit .202 in 2014, both worst under Seemann. 

Player Notes
• SO MB Sarah Liva led the Vikings in blocking in 2014 with 104 total blocks (12-92). She averaged 1.01 blocks per set, 10th in the Big Sky Conference. 
• SO S Erin Clark started 22-of-29 matches in 2014 and finished the season with 789 assists (7.59 assists per set). She added 24 service aces, second on the team. 
• Clark posted a team-high 48 assists against Gonzaga (8/30). Clark posted 40+ assists six times during her freshman season.
• Clark posted five double-doubles (assists-digs), the only five returning double-doubles from 2014. 
• SO L Tasha Bojanic started 13 matches in 2014 as a defensive specialist. She tallied five double-digit dig matches including a career-high 19 digs at North Dakota (10/16).