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PORTLAND, Ore. — Fans wanting to check out the new Viking Pavilion may have felt a bit cheated Friday, as the Portland State volleyball team swept Long Beach State, 25-23, 25-23, 25-15, in the Vikings' first-ever match in the new building. What the match lacked in length was made up for with history, however, as the win gave Portland State head coach Michael Seemann his 200th career win with the Vikings.
 
Portland State athletic director Valerie Cleary presented Seemann with a signed volleyball from all the current Vikings in an on-court ceremony after the match. Seemann becomes the sixth coach at Portland State to earn 200 wins in his or her career, as well as the third coach within the Viking volleyball program. Seemann joins fellow volleyball coaches Marlene Piper (445 wins from 1969-72 & 1974-83) and Jeff Mozzochi (371 wins from 1984-92 & 2001-06) in the 200-win club.
 
The Vikings (1-0) delivered the historic win for Seemann with a gritty sweep of The Beach (0-2). Long Beach State led late in both the first and second sets, but the Vikings came back to win both, 25-23. The late comebacks spurred the Vikings on in the third set, as they ran out to a 9-3 lead and then didn't let LBSU any closer than five points en route to the sweep.
 
The Vikings set the gritty tone in the first set, when they responded to an 8-0 LBSU run that turned an 18-13 Viking lead into an 21-18 advantage for The Beach. Junior Toni McDougald ended the run with a back row kill for the Vikings, and the Vikings scored seven of the final nine points of the set to edge LBSU, 25-23.
 
The response was an improvement for the Vikings from their exhibition win over Central Washington on Monday. The Vikings lost the third set to CWU thanks in part to not being able to stop the bleeding when CWU got hot. The Vikings had no such problems Friday, however, as they responded to every LBSU run.
 
The Vikings also found themselves down late in the second set, when LBSU won nine of 11 points during a stretch that turned a 15-11 PSU lead into a 20-18 advantage for The Beach. The teams traded 3-0 runs after that, but the Vikings then won four straight points – three from senior outside hitter Jenna Mullen – to take the set, 25-23.
 
Mullen recorded back-to-back kills to get the Vikings level at 23-23, and then blocked LBSU's Megan Kruidhof with teammate Katy Wilson to put the Vikings up 24-23 before an LBSU attack error gave the set to the Vikings. Mullen also recorded a kill to give the Vikings a 21-20 earlier in the set, meaning she accounted for four of the Vikings' final five points in the set.
 
Mullen led all players with 13 kills in the match, her highest kill total since the Vikings' 2017 season opener against CSUN. Mullen was also a dig away from a double-double with nine in the match, which would have been her first double-double since the Vikings' season-opening match against CSUN last season.
 
LBSU errors helped the Vikings jump out to an early lead in the third set, before the Vikings stretched the lead to as many 12 points at 24-12. The Vikings recorded their best hitting set of the match in the third set, as they hit .353  in the third with 14 kills against only two errors.
 
The Vikings outhit LBSU .250-to-.123 in the match, and held The Beach to hitting percentages of .025 and .108 in the second and third sets alone, respectively.
 
Besides Mullen, McDougald was a kill away from a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs in the match. Sophomore setter Maddy Reeb was also a dig away from a double-double with 28 digs and nine digs. Freshman Parker Webb added eight kills and nine digs, while freshman Mackenzie Sullivan led all Vikings with 13 digs in the match.
 
The Vikings play two matches tomorrow between a noon match against Boise State and a 7 p.m. rematch with Long Beach State.
 
And with two matches tomorrow, Viking fans should be able to see more of the new Viking Pavilion than they did Friday.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings are now 2-2 all-time against Long Beach State following Friday's win...The Vikings have won the teams' two matches since the 1980s with Friday's win and a 3-1 home win in 2016...Seemann is also the 11th volleyball coach in the history of the Big Sky Conference to earn 200 wins in his or her career.