PORTLAND, Ore. — It began with a water bath for head coach Michael Seemann. Every Viking fan hopes it ends the same way.
 
Opening Big Sky Conference play Thursday against two-time defending Big Sky regular-season champion Weber State, the Portland State volleyball team swept past the Wildcats, 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-23) at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Wildcats (6-6, 0-1) won their second straight Big Sky regular-season title last season – sharing the title with Northern Colorado – while finishing one match ahead of the Vikings in the final standings. Thursday was only one of 16 conference matches the teams will play this year, but the Vikings (6-6, 1-0) are already a match up on the Wildcats this time around.
 
The win also avenged a second-round loss to the Wildcats within the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) last year. That match was on the Wildcats' home floor, however, while the Vikings have now won their past two against the Wildcats at Viking Pavilion.
 
"We were fortunate enough to be at home for the opener, which is great, especially as we were playing a really good team that we obviously have recent history with," Seemann said of the win. "Certainly, with a new season, we knew they were young but also very good. But yeah, to start the conference season off with such a high is awesome."
 
The raucous home crowd and student section saw an in-form Viking offense that showed few signs of trouble against the Wildcats' league-leading defense. Weber State came into the match leading the Big Sky in opponent hitting percentage (.171) and blocks per set (2.49). The Wildcats still got their blocks – out-blocking the Vikings 8-to-2 in the match – but the Vikings hit .239 against the Wildcats with three players in double figures for kills.
 
The .239 hitting percentage was the second-best mark by a Weber State opponent this season, trailing only the .258 mark that UC Irvine hit against the Wildcats on Sept. 8.
 
"That's a good serving team," Seemann said of the Wildcats. "That's part of the reason why they have such a good defensive number. But one of our goals was to try to eliminate as many zeroes [passes on serve receive] as possible. Obviously they still got nine of them but overall we did a pretty good job turning really tough serves into two-option balls."
 
The trio of Makayla Lewis, Sophia Meyers and Parker Webb gave the Vikings a three-headed monster in the attack Thursday. Not only did all three finish in double figures for kills, they nearly all had double-doubles. Meyers finished a dig away with 13 kills and nine digs, otherwise Lewis and Webb were in double figures in both categories.
 
Lewis' double-double came in likely her best match of the season, as she finished with 17 kills on a season-high .351 hitting to go with 13 digs. Webb, meanwhile, had 10 kills and 11 digs for her second straight double-double after she also had one in the Vikings' final non-conference match against Seattle U.
 
"Those are the monster pins," Seemann said of Lewis, Meyers and Webb. "When they're all clicking…and again, they don't have to all be clicking at the same time, that's the beauty of it. They do a good job picking each other up.
 
"Sophia had a lot of cracks that were dug, which I think set Parker up and set Mak up, to some degree, for more success. And not that Sophia was a slouch tonight."
 
Besides Lewis, setter Madison Friebel likely had her best match of the season in guiding the offense against the tough Weber State defense. Playing in the Vikings' 5-1 formation, Friebel finished with 38 assists across the three sets Thursday while also adding six digs and three aces. Friebel now has six aces in the Vikings' last two matches, while she's averaging 12.1 assists per set since the Vikings switched to a 5-1 for their match against Seattle U.
 
"We were in a 5-1, so it's a heavier load now [for Friebel]," Seemann said. "It's something she obviously wanted and was striving to do, but we thought this was the best way to get the most continuity out of the offense and her.
 
"Super proud of her. Probably her best match in terms of serving and digging as well as delivering the ball."
 
It wasn't just the stats that made Thursday's sweep impressive, either. The Vikings also played bigger in the big moments Thursday, particularly at the end of the first and third sets, both of which the Vikings won, 25-23.
 
In the first set, the Vikings trailed 17-12 and 21-17, only to come back and tie it at 22-all with a 5-1 run. Webb had three kills in the run, including two back-to-back to finish the run. Weber State edged ahead on a kill from 2021 Big Sky MVP Dani Richins, but a Weber State service error tied the set again at 23-all. Zoe McBride, who came off the bench to serve, then came up with a big dig on what looked like a sure kill, and two contacts later, Lewis put a kill down that gave the Vikings a 24-23 lead. Webb finished the set off from there with her fifth kill of the frame on the next point.
 
Things got nervy again late in the third set, when Weber State erased a big deficit to tie it at 22-all late in the set. The Vikings had led 16-9 earlier, but the Wildcats worked their way back into it before a 4-0 run tied it late. The Vikings showed no signs of worry, however, as they set up Lewis for a first-swing kill that put the Vikings up 23-22. A second straight kill from Lewis got the Vikings to match point, and the team would convert on their second chance as Weber State put a serve into the net.
 
"We do that well," Seemann said of how his team played big during the big points. "What I reminded the team is we could be more methodical as each play goes on and play with that level of focus. You're going to need that against good teams anyways, especially on the road. You need to make sure you're not taking points off, and I thought the third set, we took some points off and let a good team back in it."
 
It helped in those tense moments that the Viking defense reliably dug the ball all night. The Vikings finished with 69 digs, 22 more than in any other three-set match this season. Libero Ellie Snook led the way as she set a three-set career high with 26 digs while also adding two assists and an ace.
 
The challenge now for the Vikings will be to put Thursday's emotional win over the Wildcats behind them. The Vikings hit the road for a match at Eastern Washington, a place that has been tricky for the Vikings in years past.
 
"We have to take on a new opponent and learn about them and obviously study them and give them the same amount of respect that we did Weber," Seemann said of turning the team's attention to the match against the Eagles. "On the road, a lot of pluses can come out of that, too, with us being more dependent on each other for the energy that we need.
 
"We have to enjoy this win, but tomorrow it's a reset and we get after a new opponent."
 
First serve between the Vikings and Eagles is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 40-22 all time against the Wildcats with Thursday's win…The Vikings have now hit .224 or better in their past five matches while they've held their last five opponents to under .200 hitting after the Wildcats hit .183 Thursday…The Vikings countered Weber State's nine aces with seven of their own, led by Friebel's three…Snook's 26 digs means she's now 62 away from breaking the career record at Portland State.