PORTLAND – After an emotional Senior Night presentation, the Vikings came out and took care of business, defeating the Montana Grizzlies in four sets Thursday night at Concordia University.
 
After starting slowly and dropping the opening set 25-23, Portland State (19-6 overall, 10-3 Big Sky Conference) came back and took the match by scores of 25-14, 25-21, and 25-19.
 
Prior to the Vikings final home match of the season, the team took time to recognize a trio of seniors who were about to play in their final home match: Tasha Bojanic, Erin Clark, and Kylie Copple. Each had shining moments throughout the match, but it was a pair of sophomore outside hitters and a junior middle blocker that carried the day for the Vikings' offense.
 
SO OH Caitlin Bettenay recorded her seventh double-double of the year with a match-high 17 kills along with 14 digs. She led the Vikings with two of the team's four service aces. It was the 17th time this season that Bettenay led the team in kills.
 
Portland State out-hit Montana (7-19, 2-11) on the night, .323-to-.207. A large reason why was the errorless attacking of JR MB Katy Wilson. For the second time this season, Wilson hit over .600 for the match, with double-digit kills, and no errors. She matched her career-high with 13 kills, while hitting .684 on 19 swings.
 
SO OH Toni McDougald also contributed to the Vikings good hitting night. She hit .448, while matching her career high with 14 kills and just one error on 29 swings. She also added a pair of blocks in the match.
 
Clark, who came into the match sixth on PSU's all-time career assists list, inched ever closer to fifth on the list with 54 assists in the win. She now has 3,117 career assists, 27 shy of tying Tori Gomez (1995-98). It was her 10th career 50-assist match, fifth of the season, and second in her last three.
 
Bojanic added her seventh 20-dig match of the year, 22nd of her career, with a match-high 22 digs against the Grizzlies. She moved up on the Portland State all-time career digs list and is now in sixth all-time with 1,493. She is five shy of tying Cathy Kuntz (1985-88) for fifth and 78 behind Leanne Peters for fourth all-time.
 
With the emotions of Senior Night running high, Montana was able to take an early lead. After tying the match at 17-17, Portland State went up by four, 21-17, before a 6-0 run by the Grizzlies gave them a 23-21 lead. Montana sided out to take the first set, 25-23.
 
Portland State settled into the second set, taking an 11-4 lead to open the frame. Portland State increased its lead throughout the set, going up 24-11. Montana staved off three set points before a UM service error gave the Vikings the 25-14 in in the second to even the match at one set apiece.
 
The Vikings jumped out to an early lead in the third set before extending it to eight points at 19-11. The Grizzlies fought back and pulled within four at 20-16 but the Vikings maintained their advantage and took the set 25-21 on a kill from JR MB Mikaelyn Sych. Sych ended the match with six kills along with a team-high seven blocks (1-6).
 
After Portland State jumped out to an early lead again in the fourth set, Montana fought back and pulled within one at 12-11. After the Vikings extended their lead to 23-19, Wilson came up with back-to-back kills to give the Vikings the 25-19 win in the fourth and the 3-1 win in the match.
 
Copple, who has seen limited action in recent weeks, came in and gave the Vikings some solid swings and came away with a pair of kills in her final home match.
 
Montana had three players in double-digit kills, led by Missy Huddleston's team-high 13 kills, nine of which came in the opening frame.
 
The Vikings have a quick turnaround against a tough opponent. They head to Sacramento, Calif. to take on Big Sky leading Sacramento State Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. PT. Portland State is currently two matches behind the Hornets with three left to play in the regular season.
 
NOTES:

• SR L Tasha Bojanic moved into sixth all-time at PSU with 1,493 career digs, five shy of fifth all-time.
• SO OH Caitlin Bettenay posted her seventh double-double with a match-high 17 kills and 14 digs.
• JR MB Katy Wilson hit over .600 with double-digit kills and no errors for the second time this season.
• Portland State recorded its eighth double-digit block match of the season.
• Portland State recorded its second win of the season in which it dropped the first set.