PORTLAND - The Vikings defeated the Eastern Washington Eagles in dramatic five-set fashion Thursday night at the Peter W. Stott Center with scores of 25-21, 15-25, 22-25, 26-24, and 16-14.
 
After falling behind two sets to one, Portland State (12-9 overall, 4-5 Big Sky Conference) took the fourth set, 26-24, to force a decisive fifth set. The Vikings were up 14-9 before the Eagles fought off five match points to tie it at 14-14. After tying the set, Eastern Washington (10-8, 5-4) served the ball wide right to give the Vikings the advantage once again. This time they did not let it get away as the Vikings came up with a big block to complete the comeback five-set won.
 
Freshman OH Caitlin Bettenay posted her third-straight double-double with a team-high 16 kills along with 11 digs. She came up big for the Vikings all night long at the service line. She tallied four aces in the match and kept the Eagles off balance all throughout the match. She also added a pair of blocks to post a team-high 21.0 points in the match.
 
Senior OH Pati Anae added her 10th double-double with 13 kills and 16 digs in the match. Junior S Erin Clark added her ninth double-double of the year with 49 assists and 12 digs. Thursday's match marked just the first time this season that three Vikings posted double-doubles in the same match.
 
The Vikings had to dig deep into their bench against the Eagles due to multiple injuries. The result, junior Kylie Copple made her second start of the season as an outside hitter. Copple's leadership and calming influence on the court was paramount throughout the comeback win. Her offensive contribution cannot be overlooked as well. Copple tallied a career-high 12 kills in the match for her first double-digit kill performance as a Viking. She hit a team-high .346 (12-3-26) in the match and came up with five digs and an ace.
 
Portland State's middle blockers continued to excel offensively. Sophomores Katy Wilson and Mikaelyn Sych each posted double-digit kills last Saturday at Southern Utah and nearly did it again. Sych had 10 kill along with four digs and three blocks (2-1) in the match, while Wilson added nine kills, three digs and three blocks (0-3).
 
Eastern Washington led Portland State in nearly every category except the one that matters, the final scores. The Eagles out-hit the Vikings .261-to-.172 for the match and were plus-21 in digs and plus-11 in blocks.
 
The Vikings came through when they needed to in the match, coming up with nine kills, 16 digs and a block in the final frame.
 
The opening set played extremely close with each team taking the lead, losing it, and then retaking it again. Eastern Washington took a 13-11 lead, following a 3-0 run, but the Vikings came back to tie it at 14-14 after taking three of the next four points. After falling behind again, the Vikings tied it at 16-16 after kills from Wilson and Bettenay.
 
Eastern Washington countered with back-to-back points of its own to go up 18-16, which forced a timeout by 10th-year Head Coach Michael Seemann. Copple tied the set at 19-19 with her second kill of the frame. Copple tied the set again at 21-21 a few points later before an attacking error by Eastern Washington gave Portland State the lead at 22-21. Wilson's fifth kill of the set put the Vikings up 23-21, which forced a timeout by Eastern Washington. Copple added a kill and Bojanic followed with an ace to give the Vikings a 25-21 win in the first.
 
Wilson led the Vikings with five kills on five swings while Copple added four kills on five swings, neither tallied an error in the set. Portland State hit .359 as a team while the Eagles hit .382.
 
Eastern Washington opened the second set with a service error. The Vikings followed that with a service ace to go up 2-0. Just like the first set, the Eagles came right back to tie it at 2-2 before the teams traded points to 3-3. EWU went on a 3-0 to go up 6-3. The Eagles extended their run to 9-3 to go up 11-6, which forced a Portland Stat timeout. Eastern Washington continued to extend its lead to take the set 25-15.
 
A kill from Anae and a block from Sych, the Vikings' first block of the match, and they started 2-0 again in the third. This time, the Vikings kept the momentum going, jumping out to a 6-2 lead following three-straight kills by the Vikings, which forced an early Eastern Washington timeout. The Vikings extend their run out of the timeout to 8-2 to go up 11-4. The Vikings made it 12-4 with their third block of the set.
 
Eastern Washington cut the lead four at 13-9 after taking five of the next six points. Bettenay came up with a big kill down the line to make it 14-9. EWU cut the lead to three at 15-12 before the Vikings took three of the next four point to go up 18-13, which forced Eastern Washington to call its last timeout of the set. The Eagles came out of the timeout with three-straight points to cut the Vikings' lead to 18-16, forcing their first timeout of the set.
 
The Vikings came out of the timeout with their fourth block to make it 19-16. Four-straight points by the Eagles gave them their first lead of the set at 20-19, forcing PSU's final timeout of the set. EWU took five of the final eight points to win 25-22 in the third and go up 2-1 in the match.
 
Portland State again jumped out to an early 10-5 lead but Eastern Washington came right back with four-straight aces to tie the set at 11-11. The Eagles took a 12-11 lead following a kill but the Vikings took the next two points to take a 13-12 lead.
 
Eastern Washington took a 19-16 lead before a 3-0 run by Portland State tied the set at 19-19. A quick kill from Clark gave the Vikings a 20-19 lead. The teams traded points to 22-22 before back-to-back points by the Vikings gave them set point at 24-22. The Eagles staved off set point with a kill right on the line to make it 24-23. They staved off another set point to tie the set at 24-24.
 
Sych gave the Vikings the lead again at 25-24 with a cross court kill from right side. Sych came up with another big kill after the longest rally of the night to give the Vikings the 26-24 win in the fourth, which sent the match to a fifth and decisive set.
 
Portland State jumped out to a 4-0 lead, which forced an Eastern Washington timeout. The Vikings took an 8-4 lead on a deep tip to the back right corner from Copple for her 12th kill of the match. Clark made it 10-6 with a quick kill over her shoulder.
 
After an Eastern Washington block, Bettenay's 15th kill put the Vikings up 11-7. After a kill by the Eagles, Bettenay came up big with another kill to make it 12-8. She followed that up with an ace right to the center of the court to put the Vikings up 13-8.
 
Sych's 10th kill of the match on a quick set from Clark gave the Vikings match point at 14-9. Eastern Washington would not go quietly as they staved off five match points to come all the way back and tie it at 14-14. Eastern Washington's next serve went wide right to give the Vikings another match point before a big block at the net by Wilson and Anae secured the Vikings the five-set win.
 
The Vikings are now 3-1 in five-set matches and 2-0 in five-setters at home.
 
Portland State will turn around after the thrilling five-set win Thursday and play host once again Saturday night as the Vikings welcome the Idaho Vandals to the Stott Center for a 7 p.m. PT start. Idaho lost in straight sets at Sacramento State Thursday night.
 
NOTES:
• Kylie Copple recorded a career-high 12 kills for her first double-digit kill performance of her Portland State career.
• Caitlin Bettenay matched her career high in kills with 16.
• Bettenay recorded her third-straight double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs.
• Pati Anae recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 16 digs.
• Anae recorded her 20th double-digit kill performance of the season.
• Erin Clark recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 49 assists and 12 digs.
• Portland State is now 3-1 in five-set matches.
• Eastern Washington is now 3-1 in five-set matches.