Complete Match Notes (PDF)
 

FIRST SERVE

The Portland State volleyball team opened fall camp only two weeks ago Tuesday.
 
Fourteen days. That's it.
 
And yet, Friday marks the start of the 2023 season for the Vikings, as they host Kansas State, Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State for the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown at Viking Pavilion, Aug. 25-27. The Vikings open against Kansas State at 7 p.m. Friday, then play Cal State Fullerton at 5 p.m. Saturday, and San Diego State at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
 
The three teams coming in have had similarly short fall camps, so the Vikings will get no sympathy from them. All teams will just hope they used their limited time together wisely.
 
The focus for Portland State head coach Michael Seemann has been simple: have his players love the game. If they love the game, then they'll compete hard at it.
 
The Vikings showed that love for the game and competition in their sole exhibition of the preseason last Saturday. Facing an Oregon Ducks team that is coming off an NCAA Elite Eight appearance last season and will open the year with a No. 9 ranking in the AVCA Top 25, the Vikings equated themselves well despite a 4-0 score line for the Ducks.
 
No set got out of hand against the Ducks – 25-16 was the largest margin of any set – and the Vikings earned some respectful applause from the partisan Oregon crowd at times for big digs and plays here or there.
 
Most encouraging for Seemann and the Vikings was the performance of the young players. It's no secret that the Vikings added seven newcomers over the offseason, and integrating all those new pieces over the spring and short fall camp remained a question mark until fans could see them in action. And yet, there was no noticeable drop-off as the Vikings rotated their players throughout the match.
 
Freshman Paige Stepaniuk earned particular praise from Seemann as she played the whole match with fellow libero Kate Hansen sidelined. Either Stepaniuk or Hansen will mark the beginning of a new era Friday when they start the Vikings' season opener against Kansas State. They'll be the first player not named Ellie Snook (career digs record holder) to start at libero since 2018.
 
As much as that marks a changing of the guard, the era of Parker Webb on the right side of the net lasted even longer for the Vikings. With the exception of the latter half of the 2018 season when she was injured, Webb had started on the right since her true freshman season in 2017.
 
Seemann says one of four players could replace Webb on the right side. Jasmine Powell has the most experience within the program of the four as a fifth-year senior, but she'll be pushed for the spot by sophomore Kendra Duffey, as well as newcomers Delaney Nicoll and Devon DeNecochea.
 
The Vikings also have to replace a starter at middle blocker. Ashleigh Barto enters her fourth year as a starter at the position, but she'll be joined in the starting lineup by either of two newcomers in Lauryn Anderson and Naomi White. Anderson enters her fifth year of college volleyball, having played the previous four at CSUN, while White will open her freshman season Friday.
 
Fans are likely to see multiple options over the opening weekend of the season, as Seemann has an eye toward peaking at the Big Sky tournament again this season. The Vikings made the championship match for the first time since 2013 last season, and Seemann knows that improvements will have to be made every week in the buildup to the tournament if the Vikings hope to get back there.
 
Their opponents for the opening weekend should help push them in that regard. Kansas State represents the Power 5 within the tournament field as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They'll bring the size of a Power 5 when they come to Viking Pavilion, as nine of their 17 players are listed at six-feet tall or higher. That includes two middle blockers in Sydney Bolding and Brenna Schmidt, who stand 6-5 and 6-6, respectively.
 
Not surprisingly, blocking was the strength of the Wildcats' team last season when they went 15-14 overall and 6-10 within the Big 12 Conference. The Wildcats ranked second in the Big 12 and 29th in the NCAA with 2.59 blocks per set as a team. Bolding led the team with 1.32 blocks per set individually, ranking her second in the Big 12 and 30th in the NCAA.
 
The other two teams in the tournament field won't have that size, but they'll present their own challenges to the Vikings, nonetheless.
 
Cal State Fullerton, 13-15 overall and 7-13 in the Big West Conference last season, may be the greatest unknown within the tournament field due to a bevy of newcomers on their team. Out of 18 players on their roster, 12 are newcomers for the Titans between eight freshmen and four transfers. And even among the six returners, only one has more than a year of experience within the program. The bright side for the Titans is that they returned their top hitter from last season in Lyla Taylor, who averaged 2.96 kills per set on .145 hitting. Taylor also contributed 2.88 digs per set defensively.
 
San Diego State has more known quantities back as they returned four starters off a team that went 11-20 overall and 8-10 in the Mountain West Conference last season. Madison Corf headlines the group of returners as an All-Mountain West honorable mention last season when she averaged a team-leading 2.61 kills per set on .139 hitting.
 
A familiar face is also among the returning starters for the Aztecs. Julia Haynie, who played two years for the Vikings before transferring to San Diego State ahead of the 2021 season, will make her return to Viking Pavilion in her final season of eligibility. Haynie ranked third on the team with 0.50 blocks per set last season, while she led all offensive players with a .356 hitting percentage.
 
The three teams will be a test of the Vikings' love for competition. That said, perhaps the greatest test of that love is the monotony of facing your same teammates for two straight weeks in fall camp.
 
The Vikings have been doing that for 14 days. They're ready to see someone else.
 

MATCH #1: PORTLAND STATE (0-0) vs. KANSAS STATE (0-0)

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Friday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m. PT, Portland, Ore. (Viking Pavilion)
SCOUTING KANSAS STATE: The Kansas State Wildcats return all but two starters from a team that went 15-14 overall and 6-10 within the Big 12 Conference last season. The Wildcats' returners include Shaylee Myers who led the team with 3.32 kills per set on .256 hitting even as she only played 65 of the team's 110 sets during the season. Second-leading hitter Aliyah Carter is also back after averaging 2.87 kills per set on .135 hitting. The strength of the Wildcats' team last season was at the net, and the Wildcats return both of their starting middle blockers in Sydney Bolding and Kadye Fernholz. Behind those two, the Wildcats ranked second in the Big 12 Conference and 29th in the NCAA with 2.59 blocks per set last season. Bolding led the way with 1.32 blocks per set, individually, ranking her second in the Big 12 and 30th in the NCAA. Fernholz, meanwhile, averaged 1.01 blocks per set to rank ninth in the conference individually. Those two make for a tall front line for the Wildcats. Nine of the Wildcats' 17 players are listed at six-feet tall or higher. Bolding stands 6-5, while fellow middle blocker Brenna Schmidt stands 6-6. The Wildcats' match against the Vikings will be the first for Jason Mansfield as head coach. Mansfield is a first-time head coach but has 19 years of experience as an assistant coach with blue blood programs like Stanford, Illinois and Washington. Mansfield won a national title with Stanford in 2004 and has been to six other NCAA Final Fours. Mansfield brought in two transfers from fellow Power 5 teams in Liz Gregorski, a senior outside hitter from Wisconsin, and local product Izzi Szulczewski, a junior setter from Oregon State and Beaverton, Ore., originally. Big 12 Conference coaches picked the Wildcats to finish eighth in the 13-team conference before the season. Defending national champion Texas topped the poll for the 13th straight season.
ALL-TIME SERIES: This will be the first-ever meeting between Portland State and Kansas State.
 

MATCH #2: PORTLAND STATE (0-0) vs. CAL STATE FULLERTON (0-0)

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Saturday, Aug. 26, 5 p.m. PT, Portland, Ore. (Viking Pavilion)
SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON: The Cal State Fullerton Titans return three starters plus their libero from a team that went 13-15 overall and 7-13 in the Big West Conference last season. The Titans returned their top hitter from last season in Lyla Taylor, who averaged 2.96 kills per set on .145 hitting, while also contributing 2.88 digs per set defensively. The Titans lost their next two-best hitters, however, in Julia Crawford and Danielle Jefferies, who averaged 2.80 and 2.55 kills per set, respectively, last season. Starting setter Elizabeth Schuster is also gone after averaging 9.19 assists per set. That leaves the Titans with what should be a youthful roster this season. Twelve of the team's 18 players are newcomers between eight freshmen and four transfers. Additionally, only one of the six returnees has more than one year of experience with the Titans. Out of the transfers, the Titans have one Oregon connection in Oregon State transfer Laura Williams, who faced the Vikings with the Beavers at last season's Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown. Williams recorded her season high with six kills in that match. Big West Conference coaches picked the Titans to finish ninth out of 11 teams in the league this season. Hawai'i, the three-time defending champions, topped the poll as the clear preseason favorite.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Titans, 2-1. The teams haven't played since Sept. 1, 2007, when the Titans beat the Vikings in four sets in Fullerton. The Vikings' last win in the series came on Sept. 10, 2005, in the old gym at the Peter W. Stott Center.
 

MATCH #3: PORTLAND STATE (0-0) vs. SAN DIEGO STATE (0-0)

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Sunday, Aug. 27, 1:30 p.m. PT, Portland, Ore. (Viking Pavilion)
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE: The San Diego State Aztecs will get their first taste of action Tuesday night in a home exhibition against North Florida. The Aztecs return four starters, as well as one of their two regular setters, off last year's team that went 11-20 overall and 8-10 in the Mountain West Conference last season. Madison Corf headlines the group of returners as an All-Mountain West honorable mention last season when she averaged a team-leading 2.61 kills per set on .139 hitting. The Aztecs lost second-leading hitter Kayla Rivera, however, after she made the Mountain West all-tournament team and averaged 2.53 kills per set. Rivera also ranked second on the team with 0.75 blocks per set, behind another of the returnees in Elly Schraeder, who ranked sixth in the Mountain West with 1.09 blocks per set last season. The Aztecs will have to replace one of their two setters in their 6-2 formation, as well as their starting libero. Among the returning starters for the Aztecs includes a familiar face for the Vikings. Julia Haynie, who played her first two years at Portland State, will be a fifth-year senior for the Aztecs this season. Haynie ranked third on the team with 0.50 blocks per set last season, while she led all offensive players with a .356 hitting percentage. The Aztecs made a run to the semifinals of the Mountain West Championship last season, upsetting third-seeded Colorado State in five sets in the quarterfinals. The Aztecs then had set points to send their semifinal match against second-seeded San Jose State to a fifth set, but fell 27-25 to fall, 3-1. This season, Mountain West coaches to finish tied for fourth in the conference. UNLV and Utah State tied atop the poll after they both made the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Aztecs lead the all-time series between them and the Vikings, 4-0. The teams have played only once since 2000, however, which was Aug. 26, 2017, when the Aztec swept the Vikings in San Diego.
 

STORYLINES/STREAKS/RECORDS

• The Vikings are coming off their first appearance in the Big Sky championship since 2013 this season. The Vikings led Big Sky regular-season champion Northern Colorado 2-1 in the championship match but dropped the next two sets to fall in five.
• The Vikings followed their Big Sky tourney run with a second straight appearance in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC). The Vikings were selected as host for the first two rounds of the tournament but fell in the first round to Santa Clara.
• Four players – Ashleigh Barto, Madison Friebel, Makayla Lewis and Sophia Meyers – return from last year's team. Friebel and Lewis made the All-Big Sky first team last season, while Meyers was a second-team selection. Barto is the most experienced of the four returning starters, having started at middle blocker for each of the past three seasons.
• Makayla Lewis and Sophia Meyers both averaged over 3.00 kills per set last season. Lewis led the team with 3.51 kills per set, ranking her fourth in the Big Sky Conference. Meyers followed at 3.07 kills per set, ranking her eighth in the conference.
• Madison Friebel, who was named Big Sky Newcomer of the Year last season in addition to her first-team honor, averaged 11.4 assists per set within Big Sky play last season. Her orchestration of the offense meant the Vikings led the conference in both kills per set (14.2) and assists per set (13.4) within Big Sky play last season. They also ranked second with a .247 hitting percentage against conference opponents.
• The Vikings will be without two regular stalwarts in their lineup the past few seasons. Ellie Snook, who had started at libero in every match since the start of the 2019 season is gone, having transferred to USC for her fifth and final year of eligibility. Parker Webb, meanwhile, used up her final year of eligibility last season. Webb had been a mainstay on the right side of the net since 2017, with the exception of all but the first three weeks of the 2018 season when she was injured.
• The key indicator for the Vikings last season was their opponent's hitting percentage. The Vikings were 18-2 a year ago when they held their opponent to under .200 hitting, but 0-10 when opponents hit above .200.
• The Vikings added seven newcomers over the offseason between four transfers and three freshmen. Three of the four transfers joined the Vikings in the spring, as Lauryn Anderson (CSUN), Kate Hansen (Bellevue College) and VaiLin Tagaloa (UNLV) stepped into new roles with the Vikings. A final transfer, Delaney Nicoll (Idaho), joined the Vikings this fall alongside freshmen Devon DeNecochea, Paige Stepaniuk and Naomi White.
• The Vikings are 38-24 over their last two seasons, as well as 23-9 in Big Sky play. The Vikings finished in the top three of the Big Sky Conference both seasons, after placing eighth or lower the previous three seasons.

 

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER

Last season represented the Vikings' best offensive year since 2017 in a number of different categories. The Vikings ranked second in the Big Sy in hitting percentage (.227), kills per set (13.4) and assists per set (12.5), all of which were program's best marks since 2017. Setter Madison Friebel – an All-Big Sky first-team selection and the Big Sky's Newcomer of the Year last year – led the way, ranking second in the conference with 11.4 assists per set within Big Sky play. Friebel's even distribution meant that three different players ranked in the top 10 of the Big Sky with at least 3.00 kills per set. Makayla Lewis led the team with 3.51 kills per set, while Sophia Meyers and Parker Webb followed at 3.07 and 3.03 kills per set, respectively. Lewis and Meyers are back this season after earning All-Big Sky first- and second-team honors, respectively, last season. The Vikings' balanced offense was key in their Big Sky tournament run, when they hit .241 across all three matches at the tournament. That included a .319 mark in their Big Sky semifinal win over Montana State – the highest hitting percentage ever for the Vikings in a Big Sky tournament match.
 

WHY YOU SO DEFENSIVE, BRO?

As much as the Vikings' offense had a resurgent season last year, it was the defense that distinguished between wins and losses for the team. The Vikings were 18-2 last season when they held opponents to under .200 hitting, but 0-10 when opponents hit above .200. That bore out during the Vikings' run at the Big Sky tournament, as the Vikings held Eastern Washington and Montana State to .108 and .151 hitting, respectively, in the team's wins in the quarterfinals and semis. Northern Colorado, on the other hand, hit .317 in the championship match. This year's defense will look a little different. For the first time since 2018, someone other than Ellie Snook – the Vikings' career leader in digs and a three-time Big Sky Conference Libero of the Year – will start at libero for the Vikings when the team opens its season Friday. Freshman Paige Stepaniuk and Kate Hansen are vying to replace Snook. Stepaniuk played the whole way at the Vikings' exhibition at No. 9 Oregon last Saturday, with Hansen sidelined with an injury. The net might mark an area of improvement for the Vikings this season. Three-year starter Ashleigh Barto is back, while newcomers Lauryn Anderson and Naomi White should bolster the team's presence on the front line. The Vikings had a strong showing at the conference tournament last season, averaging 2.15 blocks per set, but otherwise ranked 10th in the conference with only 1.66 blocks per set during the regular season.
 

MAK ATTACK

In two years at Portland State, Makayla Lewis has garnered two All-Big Sky First-Team selections, 2021 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year honors, and Big Sky All-Tournament accolades. Last year's conference tournament may have been the crown jewel of her career to this point. She averaged 4.54 kills per set on .265 hitting across all three tournament matches, while she recorded double-doubles in two of the three matches and was a dig away in the third. Additionally, she led the Vikings in kills in all three matches, including a match-high 24 kills on .319 hitting in the Big Sky championship match against Northern Colorado. The match against the Bears marked Lewis' fifth 20-kill match of last season, while she recorded 15 or more kills in seven of the team's 16 conference matches. She finished the season with a team-leading 3.51 kills per set, ranking her fourth in the Big Sky Conference. Lewis' 3.51 kills per set marked the best offensive output by a Viking since Caitlin Bettenay averaged 3.81 kills per set in 2017.
 

SOPHIA MANIA

Sophia Meyers made a splash in her debut season with the Vikings last season. What she does for an encore will be of keen interest to any Viking fan. Meyers recorded double-doubles in seven of the team's 16 Big Sky matches last season, and was either a kill or a dig away in three of the other nine matches. Meyers led the team with 12 double-doubles during the regular season, as she averaged 3.09 kills and 2.59 digs per set. Meyers totaled at least 10+ kills in 22 of the team's 31 matches last season, while she recorded 10+ digs in 17 of the 31 matches. And as if two stat categories weren't enough for her, Meyers was also a reliable scorer for the Vikings from the service line. She recorded a career-high five aces in the Vikings' win over the Hornets on Oct. 22, and averaged 0.30 aces per set for the year. Meyers finished the season ranked eighth in the Big Sky Conference for kills per set (3.07), as well as 10th in points per set (3.49).
 

WE'RE ALL MAD FOR MADI

As joining new teams go, you can't argue with earning conference Newcomer of the Year honors. That was the case for setter Madison Friebel, who not only earned the Newcomer of the Year award, but was also an All-Big Sky First-Team selection, as well as a member of the Big Sky All-Tournament Team. Friebel earned her honors after leading the Viking offense to its best offensive showing since 2017. With Friebel at the helm, the Vikings finished Big Sky play ranked first in the conference in both kills per set (14.2) and assists per set (13.4) last season. They also ranked second in the Big Sky in hitting percentage, as they hit .247 during conference play. Individually, Friebel finished the regular season ranked second in the conference with 11.4 assists per set against Big Sky opponents. She set a career high with 60 assists in the Vikings' five-set win over Sacramento State on Nov. 18, while also leading the team to .286 hitting against the Hornets – the highest mark of any Big Sky opponent against Sacramento State last season. Within the Big Sky tournament, Friebel led the Vikings to .319 hitting in the semifinals against Montana State, setting a program record for highest hitting percentage in a Big Sky tournament match. All told, Friebel recorded four 50-assist matches last season, while she recorded 40+ assists in 10 of the team's 16 Big Sky matches. Her distribution also meant that three different Vikings ranked in the top 10 for kills per set between Makayla Lewis (4th, 3.51 k/s), Sophia Meyers (8th, 3.07 k/s) and Parker Webb (9th, 3.03 k/s).
 

NOTHING'S MID ABOUT THESE MIDDLES

Portland State head coach Michael Seemann has high hopes at middle blocker this season, even as the Vikings mix the old with the new at the position. Three-year starter Ashleigh Barto is back for another year, alongside newcomers Lauryn Anderson and Naomi White. The two newcomers are a mix of the old and the new. Anderson enters her fifth year of college volleyball after four years at CSUN, while White opens the year as a freshman. The Vikings have room for growth a bit at middle blocker. Last year, the Vikings ranked last in the Big Sky with only 1.70 blocks per set. The team still ranked fourth in the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.191), but that number will drop even more with better blocking at the net. Barto still had the best offensive season of her career last season when she averaged career bests for kills per set (1.60) and hitting percentage (.291).
 

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

The top three teams (in some order) within the Big Sky Conference the past two seasons? Portland State, Northern Colorado and Weber State. So, the top three in this year's Big Sky preseason poll? Portland State, Northern Colorado and Weber State. No surprise there. Northern Colorado topped the poll as the clear preseason No. 1 pick, garnering eight of the 10 first-place votes to finish with 80 points in the survey of conference coaches. Weber State finished second in the poll with one first-place vote and 69 points, while the Vikings finished third with 61 points.