Vikings Gear Up for the Gonzaga Invitational

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After opening the season with a 2-1 record at the Aztec Invitational last weekend, the Vikings head to Spokane, Wash. for the Gonzaga Invitational (Sept. 1-2). Portland State will take on Nevada (2-1 overall), Arizona State (3-0), and host Gonzaga (0-3). The Vikings open the invitational on Friday, Sept. 1 against the Nevada Wolf Pack.

LIVE VIDEO: A live video stream will be available for the all three matches. Links can be found on the volleyball schedule page on GoViks.com.

LIVE STATS: Every match this week will feature live stats. Links can be found on the Volleyball schedule page on GoViks.com.

FOLLOW THE VIKINGS: Fans can follow the Vikings on Twitter. 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 TIME OUT: The Vikings had an impressive outing at the Aztec Invitational to open their 2017 campaign. Portland State opened the season with a four-set win over CSUN. JR OH Jenna Mullen led the Vikings' offense with 13 kills and 11 digs for her first double-double of the young season. SO OH Caitlin Bettenay added 12 kills and nine digs. The big story for the Vikings against CSUN was JR MB Mikaelyn Sych's career-high 12 blocks, the most by a Viking since 2014.
After falling to host San Diego State in the second match of the weekend, the Vikings bounced back to win the tournament with a straight-set win over Eastern Kentucky. Bettenay posted her first double-double of the year with 12 kills and 10 digs against the Colonels.
PSU hit a season-high .376 as a team, while tallying 45 kills, 44 assists, nine aces, 44 digs, and eight blocks against EKU. The Vikings put together a nearly perfect third and final set. They recorded 10 kills on 17 swings with no errors (.588). They came up with four blocks and seven aces en route to a 25-7 win. It was the fewest points allowed in a single set since scoring went to 25 points in 2008.
SR S Erin Clark and SO OH Caitlin Bettenay were named to the Aztec Invitational All-Tournament team for their play.

STORY LINES
• Portland State will play in a non-conference tournament hosted by Gonzaga for the fifth time in school history (1988, 2006, 11, 15).
• Portland State is 10-8 all-time against Gonzaga and 2-2 in Spokane.
• Head Coach Michael Seemann is 4-4 against Gonzaga, 3-0 against Nevada, and 1-0 against ASU.
• Portland State faces Arizona State for the second-straight season. The Vikings defeated the Sun Devils in four sets a year ago. Portland State goes for its third-straight win over a Pacific-12 Conference opponent after defeating Colorado and Arizona State in 2016.

SCOUTING NEVADA
• Nevada comes into play this weekend with a 2-1 record after picking up a win over San Francisco in four sets Tuesday night.
• Nevada is hitting .237 as a team and is holding opponents to a .182 hitting mark. They are averaging 14.5 kills, 1.2 aces, 13.9 digs, and 1.8 blocks per set.
• The Wolf Pack opened the season with a straight-set loss to San Francisco before defeating Utah Vally in four sets.
• SO MB Shayla Hoeft leads the team with 3.27 kills per set and is hitting .321 on the year. She leads the team with 11 blocks (1.0 blocks per set).
• Portland State is 5-1 all-time against Nevada. The Vikings took the last meeting in 2015 in straight sets.

SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
• Arizona State is 3-0 on the season with straight-set wins over Weber State, North Dakota State, and Boise State at home to start the season. ASU has allowed 20-plus points in a set just twice.
• The Sun Devils are hitting .249 with 15.11 kills per set. They average 1.11 aces, 21.67 digs and 2.11 blocks per set. ASU's 21.67 digs per set is fourth best in the nation this season.
• SR MB Oluoma Okaro leads the Sun Devils with 4.89 kills per set. She has three double-digit kill performances with a pair of double-doubles.
• Portland State is 2-3 all-time against ASU after winning in four sets a year ago.

SCOUTING GONZAGA
• Gonzaga comes into play this weekend winless on the year at 0-3. The Bulldogs fell in straight sets to Illinois to open the year, fell in four sets to Air Force, and lost in five at Montana State.
• Gonzaga is hitting just .108 this season, while allowing opponents to hit .267. The Bulldogs are averaging 10.9 kills and 7.4 errors per set.
• Gonzaga is averaging 11.3 digs and 1.8 blocks per set, while allowing 3.0 bps.
• Kaylie Loewen leads the team with 3.17 kills per set with a team-high 11 total blocks.
• Portland State is 10-8 all-time against Gonzaga and 2-2 on the road in the series.

QUICK HITS
WINS, LOSSES, AND THE BIG SKY
• Portland State is 2-1 this season, 0-0 at home, 0-1 on the road, and 2-0 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 1113-513-5 all-time and 298-305 during DI play.
• As a member of the Big Sky Conference (1996-2017), PSU is 168-166 all-time in league games, 103-64 at home, and 65-102 in road games.
• Portland State has 10 winning seasons in 21 years as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
• Michael Seemann (180-121 overall, 119-49 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.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: After leading the Vikings to a 2-1 record at the Aztec Invitational, SO OH Caitlin Bettenay and SR S Erin Clark were named to the All-Tournament Team. Bettenay led teh Vikings with 3.50 kills per set over the three matches, while adding 2.20 digs per set along with four blocks and a pair of aces. After splitting time as the Vikings setter for the first five sets of the season, Clark played as the Vikings' primary setter over the final five. For the weekend, Clark averaged 8.9 assists and 2.1 digs per set along with a team-high four aces.

BLOCK PARTY: Portland State opened the season with 14.0 blocks against the CSUN Matadors, the most since the Vikings tallied 16.0 against Idaho in 2014. JR MB Mikaelyn Sych led the team with a career-high 12 blocks (0-12), the most by a Viking since Katie O'Brien tallied 10 blocks in 2014. Sych is 33rd in the nation with 18 blocks and ninth in the country with 1.8 blocks per set.

ACES, VIKINGS, ACES: Portland State tallied nine aces in their win against Eastern Kentucky to close out the Aztec Invitational. After recording two aces over the first two sets, the Vikings rattled off seven aces, including three by JR MB Katy Wilson over the course of one service rotation. Five different players recorded aces in the third set alone.

ROLLING TO VICTORY: The Vikings closed out their match with Eastern Kentucky with a 25-7 win to sweep the Colonels. It was the first time since 2014 that the Vikings held an opponent to single-digit points in a set and the fewest points allowed in a set since scoring moved to 25 points for the 2018 season.

TOP HITTING TEAM: After one week of play, Portland State is hitting .268 as a team, the highest mark by any team in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings are averaging 12.4 kills on 31.0 attacks per set with just 4.1 errors per set. PSU's 4.1 errors per set are second best in the league.

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