POCATELLO, Idaho – The Vikings got their 2016 Big Sky Conference season off on the right foot Friday night with a 3-1 win over the Idaho State Bengals in Pocatello, Idaho. Portland State is now 7-3 all-time in league openers under 10th-year Head Coach Michael Seemann, 3-1 against Idaho State.
 
Portland State (9-4 overall, 1-0 Big Sky) took the first two sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-19. After Idaho State (5-9, 0-1) took the third set by a score of 25-20, the Vikings closed out the match with a 25-18 win in the fourth. The win marked the ninth this season for Portland State, which matched its season total from each of the last two seasons.
 
Senior OH Pati Anae led the way for the Vikings with a match-high 18 kills but the Vikings got contributions from all around the court. Sophomore MB Katy Wilson added seven kills and a trio of blocks in the match. Freshman OH Caitlin Bettenay added six kills, six digs, and one of the Vikings' three service aces in the win.
 
Portland State came up big defensively when it needed to, especially at the net in the second set. The Vikings tallied 4.5 blocks in the second set led by sophomore MB Mikaelyn Sych's four blocking assists. Sych ended the match with a team-high seven blocking assists, which matched her career high. Sophomore OH Sarah Brennan added five blocking assists in the match along with eight kills off the bench.
 
Junior L Tasha Bojanic had a monster night for the Vikings with a career-high 29 digs (7.25 digs per set). She opened the match with 10 digs in the first frame alone. She added six in the second, seven in the third, and six more in the fourth for her fourth 20-dig match of the season, 10th of her career.
 
Bojanic was not the only Viking to came up with a big dig night. Junior S Erin Clark posted her sixth double-double of the season with 39 assists and a career-high 18 digs. Clark tallied 12 digs over the final two frames, including eight in the third.
 
After a slow start to the opening frame, the Vikings got into a rhythm offensively to take the first set 25-20. Down 10-8, Portland State took eight of the next 10 points, including three straight, to take a 16-12 lead, which forced an ISU timeout. Following the timeout, the Bengals came back to tie the set at 17-17, which forced a PSU timeout.
 
The Vikings took control of the set with a 4-0 run out of the timeout to go up 21-17. Brennan gave the Vikings the win with her fourth kill to put PSU up 1-0.
 
The second set played similarly to the first as both teams kept feeling each other out, waiting for one to make a move. The Vikings did just that. Tied at 17-17, Portland State went on an 8-2 run to close out the set, which was capped by a triple-block by Brennan, Sych, and Anae. The Vikings took the set, 25-19, to go up two sets to none.
 
After limiting their hitting errors to just four in each of the first two frames, the Vikings came out of the break cold. They hit just .041 with 14 kills and 12 attacking errors. This allowed the Bengals to take the third set by a score of 25-20.
 
Portland State got things turned around in the fourth with a match-high .257 hitting mark with just one attacking error in the set. The Bengals were the ones who had the hard time hitting in the fourth as they hit just .068 with 12 attacking errors. The Vikings rolled in the fourth set to take it 25-18 to complete the four-set win.
 
Chloe Hirst led the Bengals with 12 kills in the match. She added 13 digs for one of the team's four double-doubles.
 
The Vikings will head immediately to Ogden, Utah where they will take on the Weber State Wildcats Saturday night at 6 p.m. PT. The Wildcats lost in four sets to Sacramento State Thursday night to open league play.  
 
NOTES:
• Portland State is 7-3 in Big Sky openers under Michael Seemann.
• Portland State is 3-1 in Big Sky openers against Idaho State under Seemann.
• Portland State recorded its ninth win, matching its season total from each of the last two seasons.
• Erin Clark posted her sixth double-double of the season with 39 assists and a career-high 18 digs.
• Tasha Bojanic posted a career-high 29 digs to pace all players.