PORTLAND – Stellar defense by the Vikings and senior OH Pati Anae's 18 kills led the Vikings to a three-set sweep of the Southern Utah Thunderbirds Thursday night at the Peter W. Stott Center.
 
Portland State (14-9 overall, 6-5 Big Sky Conference) took the match by scores of 25-19, 25-15, and 25-17. The Vikings out-hit Southern Utah (4-19, 2-9) .263-to-.069 for the match. The Vikings also held a +18 dig advantage (52-to-34).
 
Anae led all players with 18 kills, while hitting .316 for the match. She added eight digs and four blocks. Right from the start Anae had a little something else to her swings. She opened the match with eight kills in the first set followed by six and then four in each of the final two frames respectively.
 
No other Viking recorded double-digit kills on the night. Sophomore OH Eva Linden, making just her fourth appearance in Big Sky play, came off the bench for eight kills on 11 swings. She hit .636 for the match with just one error.
 
Portland State's defense made itself known on the very first play. The Vikings opened the match with a block from junior Kylie Copple and sophomore Michaelyn Sych. PSU went on to tally six blocks in the set and nine for the match, their highest block total in three weeks.
 
Junior L Tasha Bojanic and freshman OH Caitlin Bettenay led the Vikings with 14 and 13 digs respectively on the night. Bettenay's 13 set a new career high.
 
The Vikings had everything working early on in the first set. They scored the first four points before jumping out to a 9-1 lead. Southern Utah started to chip away at Portland State's lead and pulled within three at 13-10 after the Vikings got a little out of rhythm. A kill from Copple and a block from Anae and Sych, the fourth by the Vikings in the set, made it 15-10, which forced SUU to take its second timeout of the set.
 
The Thunderbirds took the next three points out of the timeout to make it 15-13. The Vikings took four of the next five to make it 19-14. They extended their lead before Anae's eighth kill of the set won it for the Vikings 25-19.
 
The Vikings dominated the set but nine attacking errors kept the T-Birds in the set. PSU hit .216 for the set, while it held SUU to a -.031 hitting mark. Portland State tallied six blocks in the opening frame. The Vikings came into the match averaging 1.9 per set.
 
Southern Utah picked up its first lead of the match at 3-2 in the second set. A SUU attacking error tied it at 3-3 before an ace from Copple retook the lead for the Vikings. The T-Birds tied it at 4-4 before the Vikings took six of the next seven to go up 10-5. PSU increased its lead to 14-7 before going on to take the second set 25-15.
 
The Vikings took a 12-6 lead midway through the third set with a service ace from Bettenay, her second of the match, which forced a Southern Utah timeout. Sophomore Katy Wilson's fifth kill of the match made it the score 17-11, which forced SUU's final timeout of the set. The Vikings went up 22-17 before three-straight points gave them the 25-17 win in the third and their second home sweep of the season.
 
The Vikings are now 6-2 at home this season with three conference home matches remaining. Portland State hosts league-leading Northern Arizona Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. NAU lost in straight sets at Sacramento State Thursday night.