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CEDAR CITY, Utah — Down 21-18 late in the second set and staring at a 1-1 match going into the break, senior Katy Wilson took over for the Portland State volleyball team, scoring the team's last four points of the set to give the Vikings a come-from-behind, 26-24 win. The Vikings rolled from there, sweeping Southern Utah, 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-17) Thursday night on the Thunderbirds' home court.
 
Thursday night's sweep marked the second 3-0 victory for the Vikings (4-19, 3-8 Big Sky) in their past three matches, as the Vikings also swept Montana at home on Oct. 18. Last week's win over the Grizzlies marked a sharp turnaround from the Vikings' earlier loss to the Griz this season, and the Vikings avenged another earlier loss Thursday with their win over the Thunderbirds (3-20, 2-9 Big Sky). The Thunderbirds beat the Vikings 3-1 on Sept. 29 in Portland, but the Vikings hit a seasonal-best .298 against the Thunderbirds Thursday while holding Southern Utah to just .167 hitting in the match.
 
Wilson led all players with 14 kills in the match, and did so while not committing an attack error the whole way. Wilson finished with 14 kills on 25 attacks, giving her a .560 hitting percentage – her second-best mark of the season, and the third time she's hit over .500 in a match where she recorded at least 12 kills.
 
Fellow senior Jenna Mullen, meanwhile, recorded her fifth double-double in the match with 10 kills to go with a career-high 19 digs. Mullen's 19 digs led all players Thursday, and beat her previous career high by three, which she set earlier this season with 16 digs against Indiana State.
 
It wasn't looking good for the Vikings early, however, as the team trailed the Thunderbirds 13-7 early in the first set, prompting a timeout from head coach Michael Seemann. A couple of SUU errors out of the timeout helped spark an 8-2 PSU run that tied the match again at 15-all. Sophomore setter Maddy Reeb and redshirt junior middle blocker Whitney Turner capped the run with a block on the right side of the net, stuffing Southern Utah's Emma Magnum.
 
It was still tied at 18-all when the Vikings took control with a 3-0 run that gave them a 21-18 lead. Mullen accounted for the latter two points of the run between a kill and a combo block with Wilson. The Thunderbirds got back within a point a couple of times after that, but junior outside hitter Toni McDougald finished it off with her fourth kill of the set to give the Vikings the 25-23 win.
 
The early part of the second set played out nearly identical to the first as the Thunderbirds ran out to another early lead at 12-8. The Vikings came back to tie it at 15- and 18-all, but this time it was the Thunderbirds who used a late run to take a 21-18 lead. Freshman outside hitter Peyton McBride answered with a kill out of a PSU timeout to end the run, however, and the Vikings eventually tied the match again at 22-all with a dump over the net from Reeb.
 
That's where Wilson took over, as she scored the next two points between a kill and a solo block, giving the Vikings an improbable set point at 24-22 after they had trailed for much of the set. The Thunderbirds came to tie it at 24-all with a kill from SUU's Mckenzie Dowell, but Wilson stepped up again, scoring the last two points of the set on a kill and a combo block with Reeb.
 
Wilson remained hot at the start of the third set, as she led the Vikings out to an 8-1 lead – the only time they had led early in a set Thursday – with three early kills.
 
The Thunderbirds worked their way back within three points of the Vikings a couple times afterwards but didn't get any closer than that. The Vikings stretched their lead back out to 19-11, and closed out the set sooner after at 25-17.
 
Wilson had six kills in the third set alone, all of which came as the Vikings took their early lead and then distanced themselves from the Thunderbirds.
 
Besides Wilson and Mullen, McBride was only two kills away from a double-double with eight kills and 12 digs in the match. Reeb also had another balanced match as the Vikings' setter, as she posted 35 assists, eight digs, five kills (against no errors) and two block assists Thursday.
 
The Vikings will hope to maintain their form Saturday, when they face Northern Arizona at 12 p.m. in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Lumberjacks swept Sacramento State Thursday night, handing the Hornets' their first loss in their last six matches.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 11-3 all time against Southern Utah with Thursday's win…All three of the Vikings' conference wins this season have come on Thursday nights, as they're 3-3 on Thursdays and 0-5 on Saturdays…Wilson upped her career hitting percentage to .307 with her performance against the Thunderbirds, putting her five points clear of the current Division I career record of .302 that Lana Zielke set from 2008-10.