PORTLAND, Ore. — Petition to change the spelling of "revenge" to S-W-E-E-P.
 
The Portland State volleyball team would give you the first 15 signatures after the Vikings got a dose of revenge against Eastern Washington with a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) Saturday at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Eagles (10-15, 4-9 Big Sky) have been a bugaboo team for the Vikings at times. They spoiled last year's Senior Day for the Vikings with a win at Viking Pavilion last November, then beat the Vikings, 3-1, on their home floor on Oct. 5 earlier this season. The Eagles recorded 15 aces against the Vikings in that earlier win, six more than any other opponent against the Vikings at the time.
 
But Saturday, the Vikings (15-9, 8-5) clapped back. They held the Eagles to just three aces, which allowed them to hit a season-high .340 while tying a three-set season high with 48 kills. The .340 hitting percentage was the best mark by any Big Sky team against an Eagle defense that came into the match third in the Big Sky for opponent hitting percentage.
 
"We knew that they're a great serving team. Obviously, we've been continuing to spend time on serve receive, but most importantly, we wanted to make the message clear this week that we needed to be mentally stronger in serve receive. Whatever that meant for each player," Portland State head coach Michael Seemann said of how the Vikings turned things around from their first match against the Eagles.
 
"Our players being able to apply that, I thought was great. Especially in those tight moments. I thought we did a great job of giving our setter an option and that made the difference."
 
It took a second for the Vikings to fire up their defense. By the media timeout of the first set, the Eagles were leading 15-11 with 11 kills on .692 hitting. A great defensive point for the Vikings out of the timeout helped change momentum, however. That kickstarted a 7-0 run that also included a couple of aces from Kate Hansen, which flipped the set to the Vikings.
 
The Vikings ended up winning 14 of the last 16 points in the set, including the last six straight. Madison Friebel had three aces during the finishing run, giving her four in the set to tie her career high after only the opening frame of the match.
 
"We turned the corner," Seemann said of the finish to the first set. "I think what we started doing was touching them up [at the net]. And I think as soon as we started touching them up and running those balls down and getting quality swings in transition, that started to slowly change the momentum a little bit.
 
"The players fed off the individuals making plays even if they weren't part of the play. And that's what I feel like motivated us defensively. It's a puzzle to figure out every time. You listen to the match as it goes, and I thought we did a great job of making adjustments."  
 
The long run to finish the first set featured a couple of timely sideouts, which emerged as a theme for the Vikings throughout Saturday's match.
 
Besides the first set, the Vikings broke a 13-all tie in the second set with a 5-1 run that featured two kills each for Gabby Hollins and Kendra Duffey. The Vikings then got a timely sideout off a kill from Delaney Nicoll after the Eagles got back within one at 23-22. Nicoll's kill gave the Vikings set point, and Ashleigh Barto made sure the Vikings converted on their first chance with a kill from the middle.
 
The third set was eerily similar. The Vikings broke an 11-all tie this time with another 5-1 run. Lauryn Anderson contributed a solo block, kill and ace for three of the Vikings' five points during their push into the lead. A late sideout then snapped another late push from the Eagles, as Sophia Meyers put down a kill after the Eagles had gotten back within two. Meyers' kill gave the Vikings match point, and an EWU attack error would follow to seal the win for the Vikings.
 
"That's where I thought Kate gave us a lot of two-option balls, right in the middle of the court, on those tough serves. That's all we needed a lot of those times. Timely sideouts. Big swings when it mattered. That's the sign of maturity, I think. And using our experience of the past to help us in the future," Seemann said of the team's clutch play.
 
The strong passing set up the Vikings' hitters for their best match of the season to date. Meyers led the Vikings to their season-high hitting percentage with 18 kills on .429 hitting individually. Meyers had eight kills on only 12 swings in the first set alone, then added seven more kills in the close-out third set.
 
Meyers added 12 digs to her match-high 18 kills, giving the junior her 16th double-double of the season as well as her seventh out of the team's last eight matches.
 
Hollins finished second on the team with nine kills on .211 hitting. Nicoll and Duffey followed with seven and six kills, respectively, from the right side while hitting .375 and .357 individually. Ashleigh Barto chipped in another five kills on .300 hitting, while fellow middle blocker Lauryn Anderson added three on .222 hitting.
 
Friebel and Ella Hartford led the offense with 17 assists each. Libero Paige Stepaniuk contributed seven assists herself to go with 10 digs.
 
"The setters did a great job of distributing the ball. But ultimately, it was those hitters at the end of those swings," Seemann said of the team's offense. "We watched a lot of footage from when we played them last time, and certainly I think we found ways and discovered areas that we were able to expose. And we were able to do that quite a bit tonight."
 
Anderson led the Vikings' defense at the net, recording three solo blocks out of four total in the match.
 
Saturday's win continues the Vikings' momentum going into the home stretch of the season. The Vikings are 2-0 in November after sweeping Idaho and Eastern Washington, and have won five of their last six matches, a stretch that started with the team's reverse sweep of Montana State on Oct. 19.
 
"It's the right time to be building momentum," Seemann said of the team's recent wins. "I think we're always still in a growth mindset. We'll continue to do that, but this is a great path forward right here."
 
The Vikings clinched a spot at the Big Sky tournament with the win over the Eagles Saturday. They'll know they'll be playing deep into November then.
 
So, it helps to kickstart the final month with a revenge sweep.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 36-31 all time against the Eagles with Saturday's win…The teams have split their last eight matches against each other after the Vikings won Saturday…The Vikings out-aced the Eagles 7-to-3, winning the matchup between the top two serving teams in the Big Sky Conference…Saturday was Seemann's birthday, meaning the Vikings gifted their head coach with a win.
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