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PORTLAND - The Vikings close out the month of October with a pair of Big Sky Conference road matches this week. Portland State heads to Cedar City, Utah for a Thursday, Oct. 26 match with the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, starting at 6:00 p.m. PT. PSU then heads to Flagstaff, Ariz. to take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Saturday, Oct. 28 starting at 11 a.m.

LIVE VIDEO: Both matches can be found live online on Pluto.tv. Thursday's match can be found on Pluto Channel 236 with Saturday's airing on Channel 239. For international fans, tune in at WatchBigSky.com. 

LIVE STATS: Both matches will feature live stats via StatBroadcast.com. Links can be found on the Volleyball schedule page on GoViks.com or at ViksLive.com.

FOLLOW THE VIKINGS: Fans can follow the Vikings on Twitter and Instagram. Follow @ViksVB for all the latest news, notes, and behind the scenes photos. Follow @PSU_Vikings for the latest on all 15 Portland State Athletics programs. 

LAST WEEK: Portland State swept a pair of Big Sky North Division opponents on the road last week. The Vikings opened the week with a sweep of the Eastern Washington Eagles before taking down the Idaho Vandals in straight sets. 
     The Vikings had a slow start to the match against the Eagles and trailed late in the opening set. They tied the opening frame at 17-17 before trading points to 19-19. Three-straight attacking errors by EWU gave the Vikings the lead and they did not give it back, taking the first 25-22. 
     Portland State found its rhythm in the second and third sets, taking both by scores of 25-14. SO OH Toni McDougald was the only player with double-digit kills. She posted 11, while hitting .360 from the outside. SR S Erin Clark posted her 10th double-double with 34 assists and 10 digs. The Vikings hit .317, while holding the Eagles to an .087 hitting mark. 
     Portland State took a close first set from Idaho 25-23. The Vikings hit .091 in the opening set but made it count at the service line. SO OH Caitlin Bettenay posted a pair of aces in the frame, while the Vandals tallied a trio of errors. Idaho continued to outhit Portland State through the rest of the match but the Vikings took the second and third sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-23. 
     The Viking middle blockers had a day against the Vandals. JR MB Katy Wilson tallied a team-high 12 kills, while hitting .400. JR MB Mikaelyn Sych added 10 kills, while hitting .667 with no attacking errors. 

STORY LINES

• Portland State is 17-5 overall, which matches its best record through 22 matches since moving to the NCAA Division I level prior to the 1996 season. The Vikings also went 17-5 in 2007. 
• Portland State's 9-3 non-conference record is the best under 11th-year Head Coach Michael Seemann and the team's third best over the last 15 years. 
• Portland State's win over Southern Utah on Oct. 14 guaranteed the Vikings a winning season for the 11th time in 22 seasons since becoming a member of the Big Sky Conference in 1996. 
• Portland State can secure its spot in the Big Sky Volleyball Tournament with a win Thursday at Southern Utah and losses by Weber State and Montana State. 
• Portland State concludes the regular season with seven of its final eight league matches on the road. 
• Portland State extended its current winning streak over Southern Utah to four matches with its win earlier this season. The Vikings are 9-2 all-time against the Thunderbirds and 4-1 in Cedar City. 
• Portland State is looking for its first win over Northern Arizona since 2013 after dropping each of the last eight matches in the series. NAU leads the all-time series 25-19 and is 15-7 in Flagstaff. 

SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH
Southern Utah comes into the week 6-16 overall and 1-9 in Big Sky Conference play. The Thunderbirds are last in the Big Sky.
Southern Utah went 5-7 during non-conference play before losing five-straight matches to open league play. The T-Birds picked up their first conference win with a four-set home win against Eastern Washington but have lost each of the last four. . 
Southern Utah is ninth in the Big Sky with a .173 hitting mark and 12th in both kills (11.23) and assists (10.56) per set. 
Macky Fifita leads the Thunderbirds with 257 kills and 2.99 kills per set on the season. She also leads the team in digs with 280 and digs per set with a 3.26 mark.  

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA

• Northern Arizona comes into the week 9-12 overall and 5-5 in Big Sky Conference play. The Lumberjacks are a better team away from home this season. They are 1-5 at home and 8-7 in road and neutral site matches. 
• Northern Arizona went 24-8 overall and 12-4 in league action a year ago and finished as the tournament runner-up. NAU graduated two All-Big Sky first teamers in setter Jensen Barton and outside hitter Lauren Jacobsen. 
• Northern Arizona went 4-7 during non-conference play before dropping its Big Sky opener to Northern Colorado. After back-to-back sweeps at Southern Utah and Idaho State, the Lumberjacks have dropped the last three straight. Since, they have evened their league record winning three-of-four.
• Northern Arizona is hitting .224 as a team this year but is allowing teams to hit .231. The 'Jacks' 12.36 kills and 11.57 assists per set are both seventh in the league. 
• Northern Arizona leads the league with 1.56 service aces per set on the year. 
• JR Kaylie Jorenson leads the team, and is third in the Big Sky, with 3.75 kills per set. 

QUICK HITS
WINS, LOSSES, AND THE BIG SKY

• Portland State is 17-5 this season, 5-2 at home, 6-1 on the road, and 6-2 at a neutral site. 
• Portland State will play all of its home games this season at Concordia University. 
• Portland State is in its 22nd season playing at the NCAA Division I level (1996-2017). 
• Portland State is 1128-517-5 all-time and 311-309 during DI play. 
• As a member of the Big Sky Conference (1996-2017), PSU is 176-168 (.512) all-time in league matches, 108-66 (.621) at home, and 68-102 (.400) in road matches. 
• Portland State has secured its 11th winning season in 22 years as a member of the Big Sky. 
• Michael Seemann (195-125 overall, 127-51 Big Sky) is the Vikings' third head coach in the Big Sky Conference era.
• The Vikings have won five Big Sky regular season championships (2007, 09, 10, 12, & 13) along with a pair of Big Sky tournament championships (2008 & 2010) earning them their first two NCAA Division I tournament berths.

ACTIVE WINS LEADER: After sweeping Eastern Washington (10/19) and Idaho (10/21) on the road, Portland State Head Coach Michael Seemann became the Big Sky Conference active leader in wins. He is 127-51 in conference play. His 127 wins are third all-time in Big Sky Conference matches behind Pam Parks of Eastern Washington (291) and Debby Colberg of Sacramento State (152).

AROUND THE BIG SKY: Six teams sit at-or-above .500 in league play with just six matches remaining on the schedule. Sacramento State sits atop the conference standings with a perfect 10-0 league mark, while Portland State and North Dakota sit tied at 8-2. Despite Portland State holding the tiebreaker of the UND, the Fighting Hawks sit in second as the Big Sky North Division leader. Idaho is fourth at 7-3 with Idaho State and Northern Arizona at 6-4 and 5-5 repectively.  

BIG SKY TOURNEY: The 2017 Big Sky Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 16-18 and will be hosted by the conference's regular season champion. The Big Sky North and South Division Champions will claim the top two seeds in the tournament with seeds 3-8 going to the next best teams regardless of division. Portland State is looking for its 15th bid in 22 years since joining the conference for the 1996 season.  

TOP OF THE SKY: Portland State leads the league with 14.22 kills and 13.55 assists per set. The Vikings are second in hitting percentage (.252) and third in service aces per set (1.40) and opponent hitting percentage (.200). 

Individually, four Vikings lead the Vikings in four different statistical categories:

• JR MB Katy Wilson leads the league with a .397 hitting mark. 
• SO OH Caitlin Bettenay leads the league with 4.03 kills per set. 
• SR S Erin Clark leads the league with 11.26 assists per set. 
• SR DS/L Tasha Bojanic leads the league with 4.68 digs per set. 
• JR MB Mikaelyn Sych is third in the league with 1.32 blocks per set. 

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP: SO OH Caitlin Bettenay has led or been at the top of the Big Sky Conference rankings throughout her sophomore campaign. She leads Portland State, and the Big Sky Conference, with 4.03 kills per set on the year. That is 1.48 kills per set above her average from a year ago. As a freshman in 2016, Bettenay tallied 196 kills through 77 sets. This season, she leads the team with 286 kills through 71 sets. Bettenay posted back-to-back 20-kill matches for the first time in her career earlier this season with 20 against Northern Colorado (10/5) and 21 against North Dakota (10/7). She is looking to become the second consecutive Viking to lead the league in kills per set after Pati Anae did it a year ago. 

SPREADING IT AROUND: SR S Erin Clark is having an outstanding senior season leading the Vikings' offense. She leads the Big Sky Conference with 11.26 assists per set overall this season, 19th in the nation, and with 12.58 assists per set during league play. She is averaging 2.82 digs per set on the year and is second on the team with 206 total digs. Her 10 double-doubles is also tops on the team. She is currently seventh in all-time at PSU with 2,892 career assists. She is 179 assists away from tying Toni Gomez (1995-98) for fifth all-time (3,144). 

ANCHORING THE DEFENSE: SR DS/L Tasha Bojanic had a slow start to the season but has come on strong over. Over her last 13 matches, Bojanic has tallied at least 5.00 digs per set 11 nine times. She tallied four-straight 20-dig matches, including a season-high 32 digs against North Dakota (10/7). She recorded 12 digs in the fourth set alone against the Fighting Hawks. She leads the Big Sky Conference this season with 4.68 digs per set overall. 

NET DEFENDER: JR MB Mikaelyn Sych is having a career year for the Vikings at the net. She is third in the Big Sky Conference, and is 43rd in the nation, with 1.32 blocks per set on the year. Sych has tallied three double-digit block performances this season. She became the first Vikings with double-digit blocks since Katie O'Brien in 2014 and the first with multiple double-digit block matches in a season since O'Brien had three such performances in 2011. The last Viking with four double-digit block matches in a season was Michelle Segun (Robertson) in 2007. 

BLOCK PARTY: Portland State has established itself as one of the top blocking teams in the Big Sky, and the nation. The Vikings have tallied double-digit blocks seven times this season, including four times during a three-set match. They opened the year with 14.0 blocks against the CSUN Matadors. PSU tallied 15.0 blocks in a four-set win over Nevada (9/1), its most blocks since tallying 16.0 in 2014.  

HIGH HITTING: Portland State has been at the top of the Big Sky Conference in hitting percentage the entire 2017 season. The Vikings are currently hitting .252 on the year, second-best in the conference. It is the best hitting mark under 11th-year Head Coach Michael Seemann and is on pace to set the Portland State Division I (1996-2017) hitting mark. The Vikings hit .237 in both 2009 and 2005. 

BRING OUT THE BROOMS: Portland State won six consecutive matches all via three-set sweeps from Sept. 13 (Portland) to Sept. 28 (Montana State). It was the Vikings' longest stretch of sweep wins since they won eight straight in 2009. Portland State has 11 sweeps overall on the year. 

ROLLING TO VICTORY: Portland State has closed out a pair of sweeps this season by holding its opponent to less than 10 points in the final frame. The Vikings swept Eastern Kentucky by taking the third set 25-7 on Aug. 26 before sweeping Weber State with a 25-6 win in the third on Sept. 23. The seven points allowed against EKU was the first time since 2014 that PSU held an opponent to single-digit points in a set. The six points allowed against WSU are the fewest allowed in a set since scoring moved to 25 points for the 2008 season. 

BIG SKY PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Portland State has had three players earn Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors. 

• SO OH Caitlin Bettenay - Offensive POTW (Sept. 4) - Led the Vikings to a perfect 3-0 record at the Gonzaga Invitational. Averaged 4.55 kills and 2.73 digs per set over the three matches. 
• JR MB Mikaelyn Sych - Defensive POTW (Sept. 4) - Led the Vikings to a perfect 3-0 record at the Gonzaga Invitational. Averaged 2.36 kills and 2.45 blocks per set, while hitting .429 for the weekend.
• SR DS/L Tasha Bojanic - Defensive POTW (Sept. 18) - Led the Vikings to their second perfect 3-0 weekend with three straight sweeps. Averaged 6.11 digs per set over the three matches.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

• Aug. 25 - Portland State picked up its first win of the season, a four-set win over CSUN. It was the second-straight year won their opener. Junior MB Mikaelyn Sych tallied a career-high 12 blocks becoming the first Viking since Katie O'Brien to record double-digit blocks.
• Aug. 26 - SO OH Caitlin Bettenay and SR S Erin Clark were named to the All-Aztec Invitational team after PSU went 2-1 with wins over CSUN and Eastern Kentucky.
• Sept. 2 - Portland State defeated Arizona State for the second straight season. It was Portland State's third consecutive win over a Pac-12 Conference opponent. 
• Sept. 2 - Portland State defeated Gonzaga to improve to 5-1, its best start since 2003. 
• Sept. 2 - SO OH Caitlin Bettenay and SR MB Katy Wilson were named to the Gonzaga Invitational All-Tournament Team. Bettenay was also named the Tournament MVP.
• Sept. 4 - SO OH Caitlin Bettenay and JR MB Mikaelyn Sych were named Big Sky Offensive and Co-Defensive Player of the Week respectively. 
• Sept. 9 - SO OH Caitlin Bettenay was named to the UC Davis All-Tournament Team.
• Sept. 16 - Swept the Nike Invitational with three-consecutive sweeps of Portland, CSUN, and UTEP.
• Sept. 16 - Erin Clark was named the All-Nike Invitational MVP while Katy Wilson and Tasha Bojanic were named to the All-Tournament Team. 
• Sept. 23 - Portland State defeated Weber State in straight sets for its fifth-consecutive sweep. The Vikings defeated the Wildcats 25-6 in the third set, the fewest points allowed by PSU since scoring went to 25 points in 2008. 
• Sept. 23 - Portland State improved to 11-3 for the second time in its Division I history (2008).
• Sept. 28 - Portland State improved swept Montana State for its sixth-consecutive sweep and improved to 12-3 for the second time in Division I history (2008).
• Sept. 30 - SR DS/L Tasha Bojanic recorded a then-season-high 23 digs (7.67 digs per set) in a three-set loss to Sacramento State.
• Oct. 5 - Portland State snapped a four-match losing streak to Northern Colorado with a four-set home win. 
• Oct. 7 - Portland State moved to 14-4 overall and 5-1 in league play with a four set win over North Dakota. It was the final regular season Big Sky match between the two teams.
• Oct. 7 - SR DS/L Tasha Bojanic posted her third 30-dig match with 32 digs against UND.
• Oct. 14 - Portland State secured its 11th winning season in 22 Big Sky Conference campaigns with a three-set win over Southern Utah. Head Coach Michael Seemann has been a pair of all 11. 
• Oct. 21 - Head Coach Micahel Seemann became the Big Sky Conference active leader in league wins with 127 with the Vikings' sweep of Idaho.