PORTLAND – The Vikings closed out the Nike Invitational with their third consecutive sweep, this time over the Texas-El Paso Miners Saturday morning at the Chiles Center.
 
Portland State (9-3) completed the clean sweep of the weekend going 9-0 in sets played with wins over Portland, CSUN, and UTEP. The Vikings defeated the Miners (3-9) Saturday by scores of 25-16, 25-20, and 26-24.
 
The Vikings rolled out a well-balanced offense against the Miners with four players tallying seven or more kills in the match led by JR MB Katy Wilson's team-high nine kills. She hit .533 (9-1-15) with six blocks (1-5).
 
FR OH Parker Webb tallied seven kills and a career-high eight blocks. SO OH Toni McDougald came off the bench for seven and a block.

Portland State tallied its fifth double-digit block match of the season with 12.0 blocks against UTEP. Webb led the team with eight blocks, Wilson had six, and JR MB Mikaelyn Sych added five blocks along with four kills.
 
Trailing by two early in the first set, the Vikings went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-4 lead. Portland State tried to separate itself but UTEP kept it close through the middle part of the set. Leading 18-15, the Vikings were finally able to create some separation and go on another run. They finished out the set on a 6-1 run to take the first 25-16.
 
The Vikings took control early in the second set with a 4-1 lead. They maintained a 3-to-4-point lead through much of the set before UTEP closed the gap and made it a one-point set, which forced a timeout by 11th-year Head Coach Michael Seemann.
 
Like they did in Friday's win over CSUN, the Vikings rallied out of the timeout with four-straight points to take the set 25-20. Wilson started the run with a kill before teaming up with McDougald for a block. JR OH Jenna Mullen came off the bench and gave the Vikings a well-timed service ace before Wilson ended it with her sixth kill of the set.
 
Portland State kept their momentum going in the third set, jumping out to an early 5-1 lead. The Vikings extended their lead to five points at 10-5 before UTEP started to again chip away at the lead. The Miners went on a 3-0 run to take a 17-16 lead midway through. The Vikings countered with a 3-0 run of their own but the Miners came back and once again tied it at 20-20.
 
The teams traded points to 24-24. After a UTEP ball handling error, Wilson and Webb teamed up for the Vikings' 12th block of the match to take it 26-24 and finish of their third-consecutive sweep.
 
Portland State is 9-3 on the season heading into Big Sky Conference play next week. The Vikings open with seven of its first eight league matches at home. All PSU home matches will be played at Concordia University due to the on-going construction of the Viking Pavilion at the Peter W. Stott Center. The Vikings host Idaho State on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. PT. The Bengals are 3-9 this season with one non-conference match before Thursday's matchup.
 
NOTES:

• Portland State had three players with 5-plus blocks.
• Portland State had four players with 7-plus kills.
• Portland State recorded its fifth double-digit block match (12.0).
• Portland State is 5-3 in three-set matches.
• Portland State is 9-0 when it wins the first set.
• Portland State is 8-0 when it wins the first two sets.
• Portland State is 9-0 when it out-hits an opponent.