SPOKANE, Wash. – The Vikings took care of the Nevada Wolf Pack in four sets to open play at the Gonzaga Invitational Friday night in Spokane, Wash. Portland State (3-1 overall) took the match by scores of 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, and 25-20.
 
The Vikings improved their league-best hitting mark to .273 for the year after hitting .282 against Nevada (2-3) Friday night. It was the third time in four matches that they hit .250 or better.
 
Portland State tallied season highs in kills (60), assists (58), digs (70), and blocks (15.0). It was the second time this season that the Vikings have posted double-digit blocks after posting 14.0 blocks to open the season in a win over CSUN.
 
Leading the way at the net for the Vikings was junior MB Mikaelyn Sych who became the first Viking since Katie O'Brien in 2011 to post multiple double-digit block matches in a season. Sych had a career-high 12.0 blocks against CSUN and 10.0 blocks against the Wolf Pack.
 
It was a night for career bests for the Vikings as both sophomore OH Caitlin Bettenay and junior DS/L Haley Glass posted career numbers.
 
Bettenay led the Vikings in kills for the third time this season, posting a career-high 20 kills. She hit .280 (20-6-50) on a season-high 50 swings. Bettenay also posted her second double-double of the young season, 10th of her career, with a career-high 15 digs.
 
Glass, getting her second-straight start as the Vikings libero, recorded a career-high 20 digs in the match. She led the way in the back row for the Vikings but she had help from all over the court. Three Vikings posted double-digit digs with two more coming off the bench to record seven apiece en route to the team's season high mark.
 
Senior S Erin Clark posted her first double-double of the year with a season-high 49 assists along with 10 digs. She added five kills and matched her career high with four blocks.
 
Outside hitters Sarah Brennan and Parker Webb added 11 and nine kills apiece for the match. Junior MB Katy Wilson added eight kills and five blocks (1-4).
 
Portland State got out to a quick start, jumping out to a 7-1 lead early in the first set. The Vikings extended their lead to 11-3 with a total team effort. Glass seemed to be everywhere, tallying seven digs in the set. Back-to-back bocks from Clark and Sych put the Vikings up 23-15. Four points later, Sych teamed up with Brennan for another stuff to win the opening frame 25-17.
 
The Vikings got behind early in the second set. After splitting the first two points, Nevada went on a 5-0 run to go up 6-1. The Vikings started to chip away at the lead, taking five of the next six, to cut the lead to one at 7-6. They finally tied it at 10-10 before going up 12-10.
 
Bettenay's 10th kill of the match made it 15-15. Tied at 16-16, another kill from Bettenay, a block from Brennan and Wilson, and an ace from Bettenay put the Vikings up 19-16, which forced a Nevada timeout.
 
Nevada took the next two points following the timeout but back-to-back kills from Brennan made it a 21-19, which forced another timeout. After a Nevada attacking error, the Wolf Pack scored four straight to tie it at 22-22.
 
A quick kill from Clark made it 23-22 and a block from Nevada made tied it again at 23-23. A kill from Sych and Bettenay's 13th kill gave the Vikings a 25-23 win to go up two sets to none.  
 
Portland State had another slow start to the third and trailed 4-1 early. They came back to tie it at 7-7 before a pair of runs by the Wolf Pack up the them up 17-10, which forced PSU's first timeout of the match.
 
Down 19-11, the Vikings went on a very impressive run. It started with back-to-back kills from Bettenay and Wilson. Glass added back-to-back aces to make it 19-15. Three straight blocks by the Vikings pulled them within one before an unforced attacking error by Nevada tied it at 19-19.
 
Unfortunately, the comeback fell short as the Wolf Pack scored the final four points of the set to win 25-23 and push the match to a fourth set.
 
The Wolf Pack rode the momentum from their win in the third and led 8-4 early in the fourth but the Vikings were unfazed. The Vikings scored six of the next seven points to take a 10-9 lead.
 
With the set tied at 14-14, the Vikings scored three straight on kills from Bettenay, Wilson, and Clark to go up 17-14. That would be all the room that they would need. They extended their lead and after Bettenay's 20th kill of the match gave them match point, a Nevada attacking error gave the Vikings a 25-20 win in the fourth to give them the 3-1 victory in the match.
 
After tallying just one kill in the third, Bettenay recorded six kills and eight digs in the fourth to lead the Vikings to victory.
 
Portland State has its work cut out for itself with a pair of matches slated for Saturday. The Vikings take on the Arizona Sun Devils starting at 1 p.m. PT before facing off with host Gonzaga to conclude tournament action at 7 p.m.
                 
NOTES:
• SO OH Caitlin Bettenay posted career highs in kills (20) and digs (15) for her second double-double of the year.
• JR DS/L Haley Glass posted a career-high 20 digs.
• SR S Erin Clark recorded her first double-double of the year (49 assists, 10 digs)
• JR MB Mikaelyn Sych recorded her second 10-block match of the year with 10.0 blocks.
• Sych is the first Vikings since Katie O'Brien to record multiple double-digit block matches in a season.
• All six PSU starters had at least five kills.