OGDEN, Utah — It's true all season, but especially come tournament time: Once you have your opponent down, don't let them up. The Portland State volleyball team adhered to that advice Friday night, as a 12-0 run to close the fourth set sent the Vikings into tomorrow's Big Sky championship match for the first time since 2013.
 
The closing run put the finishing touches on a 3-1 win (25-18, 25-22, 19-25, 25-7) over Montana State in the Big Sky semifinals Friday at Weber State's Swenson Gym. The Vikings dominated the match against the Bobcats statistically, out-hitting them .319-to-.151, out-killing them 53-to-43, out-blocking them 9.0-to-5.0 and out-acing them 7-to-3.
 
So, the Viking won't merely be making an appearance in the Big Sky championship match tomorrow. They'll head into the match on the backs of one of their best performances of the season.
 
"I'm very proud of our team's effort. We were committed to staying mentally focused on the next point throughout," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said of his team.
 
"We had strong serving through the whole match, and we were mentally tough in our passing. We held them to only one really strong run."
 
That run came in the third set when the Bobcats (14-16) rattled off 10 straight points. The rally pushed the match to a fourth set, after the Vikings had controlled much of the first two sets. But rather than pity themselves, the Vikings (18-11) went out and topped the Bobcats with 12 straight points to finish the fourth set. The 25-7 score line was the biggest margin of victory for the Vikings in a single set this season.
 
It should come as no surprise, then, that the fourth was also the Vikings' best statistical set of the season. They recorded 13 kills on only 22 swings and no errors, as their .591 hitting percentage in the set marked a season high. Makayla Lewis and Parker Webb recorded five kills each in the frame to lead the Vikings. Appropriately, they also had the final two kills, as Lewis got the Vikings to match point, while Webb finished it.
 
Lewis finished with a match-high 19 kills on .286 hitting, while Webb and Sophia Meyers both finished with 13. Meyers' 13 kills came on a season-high .480 hitting. Middle blocker Ashlyn Blotzer also had six kills on .308 hitting for the Vikings.
 
As a team, the Vikings' .319 hitting percentage marked a new program record for a Big Sky tournament match. The previous record had been .261 in a three-set match against Eastern Washington on Nov. 17, 2006.
 
Setter Madison Friebel orchestrated the Vikings' record-breaking attack with 39 assists to go with 11 digs.
 
"Madi did a great job of putting our hitters in good positions to attack effectively," Seemann said of his team's All-Big Sky first-team setter.
 
Just as impressive as the offense, was the team's play defensively. Three weeks ago, the Bobcats recorded 73 kills on .226 hitting against the Vikings in a five-set home win for the Bobcats on Nov. 5. Friday, the Vikings held them to only 43 kills on .151 hitting.
 
Blotzer led the Vikings' defense at the net. She was part of seven of the team's nine blocks in the match, giving her a new season high. Lewis tied her career high with five blocks, while Webb, Friebel and Ashleigh Barto all had two blocks each.
 
Friebel's 11 digs led the team's back row, while Lewis and Zoe McBride also went into double figures with 10 digs each. Libero Ellie Snook was held below double digits with nine digs, but she contributed elsewhere between eight assists and four aces. Two of Snook's four aces came during the team's closing 12-0 run, as Snook served throughout the run.
 
The Vikings also had long runs in the first set to take the early lead. They won six of seven to go up 15-10, then closed the set by winning eight of the final 10 points.
 
A 6-0 run gave the Vikings an early 11-6 lead in the second set, but Montana State came back with five straight points a little later and the set went back-and-forth from there. It was tied at 21-all late in the frame when Meyers made something out of nothing with a rare kill that came off an over-pass. Webb followed with a kill that gave the Vikings a two-point lead at 23-21, then got the Vikings to set point with another kill two points later. Lewis and Blotzer then combined for a block on the next point to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead.
 
Friday's win over the Bobcats marked the Vikings' second straight match in which they exacted revenge at the Big Sky tournament. The Vikings beat Eastern Washington in the Big Sky quarterfinals Wednesday, avenging a loss to the Eagles 11 days earlier on Nov. 12. Friday's semifinal win over the Bobcats avenged the team's road loss at Nov. 5.
 
The Vikings will need to do it again Saturday, as Northern Colorado beat the Vikings twice during the regular season. The Bears will take confidence from those matches into Saturday's championship, but considering how things have gone for the Vikings this week, they shouldn't be too confident.
 
"I know this team is hungry for a win against UNC," Seemann said of the match.
 
First serve between the Vikings and Bears will be at 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 47-26-1 all time against the Bobcats with Friday's win…The Vikings are now 1-1 against the Bobcats at the Big Sky tournament…Snook's four aces tied an overall single-match record for the Vikings at the Big Sky tournament, as it equaled Marija Vojnovic's four aces against Weber State on Nov. 23, 2007. Snook's four aces marked a new four-set match record at the tournament, however…Webb's 14.0 points Friday leave her 24.0 points behind the Division I program record of 1,789.0 career points that Jessica Brodie set from 2003-06.