Complete match notes (PDF)
 

FIRST SERVE

Head coach Michael Seemann has called volleyball the truest test of your strength as a team. If Seemann needed an example to prove his point, he'd only have to look at his own team this past weekend at the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown.
 
Down both of their returning All-Big Sky first-team selections – Madison Friebel all weekend and Makayla Lewis since a devastating injury in the team's season opener Friday – the Vikings went 2-1 at their home tournament behind back-to-back sweeps of Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State.
 
They'll now take that test on the road, as they split three matches between playing at Cal and Saint Mary's. The Vikings are at Cal Friday where they'll play a neutral-site match against Southern Utah at 11 a.m., then a road match against the Bears at 7 p.m. The team will then travel to Saint Mary's Saturday where they'll face the Gaels at 2 p.m.
 
It'll be the first road test for a number of the Vikings who stepped into the limelight given Friebel and Lewis' absence. How they'll look on the road remains an unknown, but the Vikings can take a bit of confidence with them considering how they responded this past weekend.
 
With Lewis' injury still hanging over the team going into Saturday's match against Cal State Fullerton, the Vikings responded with their best serving performance in years. The Vikings recorded 16 aces against the Titans, one off the program's three-set match record that has stood since 1995. Sophia Meyers led the way with six aces in the match, the most by a Viking since Cheyne Corrado had seven against Oklahoma on Sept. 12, 2014.
 
But Meyers wasn't alone. Six different players recorded an ace in the match, including three players with three or more between Meyers (6), Gabby Hollins (3) and Lauryn Anderson (3).
 
Hollins added two more aces Sunday against San Diego State when she put together possibly her best match as a Viking. Hollins – who sat on the bench the entire 2022 season with Lewis and Meyers starting in front of her – led all players with 17 kills Sunday while hitting a career-best .452. The 17 kills were Hollins' most in a match since she had 18 against Montana State on Oct. 16, 2021.
 
Setters Ella Hartford and VaiLin Tagaloa also stepped up in Friebel's absence and led the team to .282 hitting against Cal State Fullerton and .311 against San Diego State. The Vikings now lead the Big Sky in both kills per set (13.2) and assists per set (12.4) after the opening weekend thanks to them.
 
The biggest measure of how the Vikings stepped up over the weekend might be in the number of people they cycled through in their three matches. Four different players started their first-ever matches for the Vikings, while Hollins and Jasmine Powell started their first matches since 2021. All told, seven players made their Viking debuts over the weekend.
 
One of the debutants who passed with flying colors was freshman libero Paige Stepaniuk. It took Stepaniuk all of one week to earn her first Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honor, as she picked up the award Monday. Stepaniuk earned the honor after averaging 4.60 digs per set over the opening weekend, a mark that ranks her second in the Big Sky and 77th in the nation.
 
As a team, the Vikings lead the Big Sky and rank 67th in the NCAA with 15.3 digs per set. They also rank second in the conference and 93rd in the NCAA with an opponent hitting percentage of .164.
 
That's in part thanks to Stepaniuk. She led all players with 19 digs Sunday against San Diego State, nine of which came in the opening set. Stepaniuk and the Viking defense also held Cal State Fullerton to .055 hitting Saturday, the lowest mark for a Viking opponent since University of Portland hit .043 on Sept. 9, 2021.
 
The Vikings' opponents this weekend had their own strong opening weekends. The three opponents enter the week a combined 8-1. Southern Utah – the Vikings' opponent Friday morning – sports the one loss after falling to CSU Bakersfield on the road Saturday. The Thunderbirds beat one of the Vikings' Big Sky rivals earlier in the week, though, as they topped Eastern Washington in five sets.
 
Saint Mary's also owns a win over a Big Sky school already this season, having beaten Weber State in five sets Saturday at the Wildcats' home tournament.
 
The Gaels will be the known quantity among the Vikings' three opponents. Eleven of their 15 players are returners this season, while they sport an 18-year head coach in Rob Browning.
 
The same can't be said about Southern Utah and Cal, both of which went through big changes over the offseason. The Thunderbirds brought in 12 newcomers out of their 15 players this season. That includes a former Viking in Teniyah Leuluai, who started at setter for the Thunderbirds this past weekend.
 
Cal, meanwhile, went through a coaching change late in the summer when former head coach Sam Crosson resigned on July 22. Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd stepped in as interim head coach and had a strong opening weekend, leading the Bears to wins over Army, Fairfield and Central Connecticut State.
 
So, everybody is going through their own tests early in the season. The Vikings just have to keep passing their own and continue to grow together.
 
It's what the sport of volleyball demands, as Seemann says.
 

MATCH #1: PORTLAND STATE (2-1) vs. SOUTHERN UTAH (2-1)

LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Friday, Sept. 1, 11 a.m. PT, Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion)
SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH: The Southern Utah Thunderbirds went 2-1 at the CSU Bakersfield tournament this past weekend. The Thunderbirds won both of their matches on Friday – topping Providence College, 3-1, and Eastern Washington, 3-2 – before losing to host CSU Bakersfield, 3-1, on Saturday. The Thunderbirds' win over the Eagles marked their first rematch with a Big Sky Conference team this season. Their match against the Vikings Friday will be their second. Last season marked the Thunderbirds first year outside of the Big Sky Conference since 2012. SUU went 7-17 overall and 6-8 in their first year within the Western Athletic Conference. The Thunderbirds have almost a completely new team this year, however. Only three letterwinners returned from last season, while 12 newcomers between five freshmen and seven transfers. One of those transfers is former Viking Teniyah Leuluai, who played her first two seasons at Portland State before returning to her home state to join the Thunderbirds this season. Leuluai started at setter for the Thunderbirds last weekend and averaged 8.77 assists per set, while adding back-to-back double-doubles against Eastern Washington and CSU Bakersfield. Against CSU Bakersfield, Leuluai finished with 35 assists, 13 digs, five blocks and three kills. Leuluai's distribution also meant that five different players averaged over 2.00 kills per set last weekend. Andrea Spasojevic leads the team with 2.54 kills per set, while Natasha Obradovic (2.33), Hana Makonova (2.23), Carissa Richie (2.18) and Molly McDermott (2.08) are all above two kills a set, too. Spasojevic and Calli Johnson are also the team's top two servers at 0.54 and 0.40 aces per set, respectively.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Thunderbirds, 14-6. This will be their first meeting as non-conference opponents, as Southern Utah had been a member of the Big Sky Conference from 2012 to 2021. This will also be the first neutral-site match between the opponents.
 

MATCH #2: PORTLAND STATE (2-1) vs. CAL (3-0)

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m. PT, Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion)
SCOUTING CAL: The Cal Bears went a perfect 3-0 on the opening weekend of the season while playing at the Army Invitational. The Bears swept Army on Friday, then followed with a 3-1 win over Fairfield and a 3-0 win over Central Connecticut State on Saturday. The Bears had a tough year last season, going 7-23 overall and 0-20 within Pac-12 Conference play. Sam Crosson resigned as the team's head coach on July 22, leaving Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd to serve as interim head coach. The Bears started well under Jones Schoonderwoerd given their 3-0 start to the season. The Bears served especially tough last weekend, as they averaged 2.40 aces per set to rank third in the Pac-12 and 31st in the NCAA. Sam Taumoepeau, one of the team's 10 returners from last season, averages 0.80 aces per set to rank 30th in the NCAA. Maggie Li averages 0.60 aces per set, ranking her fourth in the Pac-12 Conference and 101st in the NCAA. Maggie Li also led the Bears with 3.40 kills per set over the opening weekend, while Ashley Li (no relation) and Taumoepeau averaged 3.00 kills per set each. Tara DeSa leads the Bears defensively with 4.00 digs per set. Mikayla Hayden leads the team at the net with 1.20 blocks per set. Junior Annalea Maeder has started at setter for the Bears and averages 9.20 assists per set.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Bears lead the all-time series between them and the Vikings, 4-2. The teams have only played once since 1986, however. That was a meeting in 2018 when the Vikings pushed the Bears to five sets before falling at their home tournament, the Les Schwab West Coast Challenge.
 

MATCH #3: PORTLAND STATE (2-1) vs. SAINT MARY'S (3-0)

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Saturday, Sept. 2, 2 p.m. PT, Moraga, Calif. (University Credit Union Pavilion)
SCOUTING SAINT MARY'S: The Saint Mary's Gaels went 3-0 at the Wildcat Invitational last weekend, including a five-set win over host Weber State on Saturday. The Gaels went 9-17 overall and 6-12 in the stacked West Coast Conference last season. The Gaels should be an experienced team this season. Eleven of their 15 players are returners, while the Gaels are also in their 18th year under head coach Rob Browning. That experience means the Gaels' offense has gelled early in the season. They rank first in the West Coast Conference and 41st in the NCAA with a .288 team hitting percentage. They also top the conference and rank in the top 50 of the nation in both kills per set (14.1) and assists per set (13.6). Five different players average more than 2.00 kills per set so far for the Gaels. Kjersti Strong ranks third in the WCC with 3.33 kills per set. Genevieve Bane follows with 2.67 kills per set, while Kristen Erland (2.17 k/s), Hannah Taylor (2.08 k/s) and Abby Castilon (2.00 k/s) round out the top five. Strong and Castillon also lead the team with four aces each so far this season. Meanwhile, Ella Sandt and Hailee Garcia have split duties at setter and average 6.42 and 6.00 assists per set, respectively. Makenna Joyce anchors the defense with 3.58 digs per set, while Strong and Clarissa Klein average 1.08 blocks per set at the net.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Gaels, 2-1. The teams haven't played since Sept. 9, 2000, however, when the Gaels won in three sets.
 

STORYLINES/STREAKS/RECORDS

• The Vikings followed a season-opening loss to Kansas State with back-to-back sweeps of Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State at their home tournament, the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown. The Vikings swept both matches despite playing without their two returning All-Big Sky first-team selections Madison Friebel and Makayla Lewis. Friebel sat all weekend, while Lewis went down with an injury in Friday's match.
• The Vikings recorded 23 aces between their two 3-0 sweeps last weekend. They had 16 – one off the program's three-set match record – against Cal State Fullerton Saturday. Sophia Meyers had six in the match, the most by a Viking since 2014.
• The Vikings lead the Big Sky and rank 14th in the NCAA with 2.70 aces per set. Sophia Meyers leads the conference individually while also ranking 33rd in the NCAA with 0.80 aces per set. Gabby Hollins ranks fourth in the Big Sky and 96th in the NCAA with 0.63 aces per set, while Lauryn Anderson ranks 10th in the conference with 0.40 aces per set.
• The Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference in both kills per set (13.2) and assists per set (12.4) after the opening weekend of the season.
• Gabby Hollins had the best match of her career Sunday against San Diego State, leading all players with 17 kills on a career-best .452 hitting against the Aztecs. Hollins, who was forced into action when Lewis went down with her injury Friday, now ranks second in the Big Sky and 93rd in the NCAA with 3.75 kills per set. She also ranks second in the conference with 4.38 points per set.
• Sophia Meyers led all players with 15 kills to go with a career-high 21 digs Friday night against Kansas State. In addition to leading the Big Sky Conference in aces per set, Meyers ranks seventh in the league with 3.10 kills per set, as well as fourth with 4.05 points per set.
• Freshman libero Paige Stepaniuk was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week after the first weekend of her collegiate career. Stepaniuk ranks second in the Big Sky and 77th in the NCAA with 4.60 digs per set after the opening weekend. She led all players with 19 digs in the Vikings' 3-0 sweep of San Diego State Sunday.
• The Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference with 15.3 digs per set as a team after the opening weekend of the season. They also rank second in the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.164). Cal State Fullerton hit only .055 against the Vikings Saturday, the lowest percentage by a Viking opponent since University of Portland hit .043 on Sept. 9, 2021.
• San Diego State hit .221 despite the Vikings' 3-0 win over the Aztecs Sunday. It was the first time the Vikings had won a match when their opponent hit over .200 since Oct. 16, 2021. The Vikings were 0-11 when their opponent hit over .200 last season.
• Due in part to the Vikings' injuries, the Vikings had four players start their first matches for them last weekend. Additionally, Jasmine Powell and Gabby Hollins earned starts after being reserves for much of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Seven different players also made their Viking debuts last weekend.
• The Vikings are coming off their first appearance in the Big Sky championship match since 2013. 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.
• The Vikings have new starters at libero and right side for the first time in years. Ellie Snook had held down the libero spot since 2019, when she debuted and went on to be a three-time Big Sky Libero of the Year. Meanwhile, all-time points leader Parker Webb – except for the latter half of the 2018 season when she was injured – had been the Vikings' regular starter on the right since 2017.
• 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

Down their all-conference first-team setter and left-side hitter for all but the first half of their first match on Friday, the Vikings still showed enough punch offensively to post back-to-back sweeps of Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State. That shows the depths of this year's Vikings offensively. Gabby Hollins started in place of Makayla Lewis, who went down with an injury during the third set of Friday's match against Kansas State. Ella Hartford and VaiLin Tagaloa split duties in the Vikings' 6-2 formation with last year's starter, Madison Friebel, sidelined all weekend. Even with the changes, the Vikings finished the opening weekend of the season leading the Big Sky Conference and ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA in kills per set (3.75) and assists per set (12.4). Hollins, who led all players with 17 kills while hitting a career-best .452 in Sunday's sweep of San Diego State, ranks second in the conference and 93rd nationally with 3.75 kills per set individually. Sophia Meyers, who led all players with 15 kills to go along with a career-high 21 digs Friday, ranks seventh in the league with 3.10 kills per set. Hartford had her first-career double-double Friday with 27 assists and 12 digs, and now ranks seventh in the Big Sky with 5.70 assists per set. Tagaloa, meanwhile, averages 4.90 assists per set after the opening weekend. Senior middle blocker Ashleigh Barto also ranks ninth in the conference with a .343 hitting percentage.
 

ACE IN THE HOLE

The standout showing of last weekend for the Vikings likely came from the service line. Against Cal State Fullerton Saturday, the Vikings recorded 16 aces in a 3-0 sweep, one off the program's three-set match record that has stood since 1995. Six different players recorded an ace in the match, including three with three or more. Sophia Meyers led all players with six aces against the Titans, giving her the most by a Viking in a match since Cheyne Corrado had seven against Oklahoma on Sept. 12, 2014. Besides Meyers, Gabby Hollins and Lauryn Anderson each had three aces against the Titans. The Vikings followed up with seven aces in their 3-0 sweep of San Diego State Sunday, with five different Vikings contributing to those seven aces. The Vikings now lead the Big Sky and rank 14th in the NCAA with 2.70 aces per set as a team. Meyers leads the conference individually with 0.80 aces per set, an average that also ranks her 33rd in the nation. Hollins ranks fourth in the conference and 96th nationally with 0.63 aces per set, while Anderson stands 10th in the league with 0.40 aces per set.
 

WHY YOU SO DEFENSIVE, BRO?

Few of us can hope for a debut as solid as the one freshman libero Paige Stepaniuk put together at the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown. One weekend into her collegiate career, Stepaniuk has already earned Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 4.60 digs per set in the team's first three matches of the season. Stepaniuk's average ranks her second in the Big Sky and 77th in the nation. She's also paced the Vikings to a conference lead in digs per set (15.3) as a team, while the Vikings rank second in the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.164). Stepaniuk led all players with 19 digs against San Diego State Sunday, nine of which she had in the first set. Stepaniuk and the Viking defense also held Cal State Fullerton to .055 hitting Saturday, the lowest hitting percentage by a Viking opponent since University of Portland hit .043 against the Vikings on Sept. 9, 2021.
 

YO GABBY GABBY

Gabby Hollins didn't play a single match for the Vikings in 2022. Not one. And yet, when teammate Makayla Lewis went down with an injury, Hollins stepped up big time, leading the Vikings in kills in both of their 3-0 sweeps over Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State. Starting for the first time since 2021, Hollins recorded nine kills and three aces in the Vikings' win over Cal State Fullerton Saturday. Hollins' three aces came as part of 16 for the Vikings, which was one off the program's three-set match record. Hollins followed with possibly the best match of her Portland State career Sunday against San Diego State. She led all players with 17 kills against the Aztecs while hitting a career-best .452 and adding another two aces. Hollins now ranks second in the Big Sky and 93rd in the NCAA with 3.75 kills per set after the opening weekend of the season. She also ranks second in the conference in points per set (4.38) and fourth in aces per set (0.63).  
 

SOPHIA MANIA

Sophia Meyers contributed all over the court last weekend for the Vikings. On Friday against Kansas State, Meyers set a career high with 21 digs while leading all players with 15 kills. Saturday, she became the first Viking since 2014 to record six aces in a match while leading the Vikings to 16 aces as a team, one off the program's three-set match record that has stood since 1995. Sunday, she did a little bit of everything, finishing with nine kills, nine digs, a solo block and an ace. It shouldn't be unexpected of Meyers, who was an All-Big Sky second-team selection last season when she led the team with 12 double-doubles. Meyers averaged 3.09 kills and 2.59 digs per set last season, and finished with 10+ kills in 22 of the team's 31 matches last season, as well as 10+ digs in 17 of the 31 matches. This season, Meyers already leads the Big Sky Conference while ranking 33rd nationally with 0.80 aces per set after the opening weekend. She also ranks fourth in the league with 4.05 points per set, and seventh with 3.10 kills per set.
 

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. Ashleigh Barto is a four-year starter at the position now, while the Vikings added newcomers Lauryn Anderson and Naomi White over the offseason. Anderson, a graduate transfer from CSUN, started opposite Barto in all three matches last weekend and made the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown All-Tournament Team. Anderson was a standout for the Vikings not only in the middle but also from the service line last weekend. She had three of the Vikings' near-record 16 aces against Cal State Fullerton Saturday. She added another Sunday against San Diego State and now ranks 10th in the Big Sky with 0.40 aces per set. Meanwhile, White, a freshman, made her collegiate debut Saturday, putting down a solo block in the Vikings' match against Cal State Fullerton. Barto picked up where she left off, too. A year after averaging career bests for kills per set (1.60) and hitting percentage (.291), she hit .343 across the team's first three matches of the season, ranking her ninth in the Big Sky Conference.
 

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.
 

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Aug. 27, 2023, Portland State 3, San Diego State 0: Gabby Hollins, forced into a new role after Makayla Lewis' injury two days earlier, had a career match, leading all players with 17 kills on a career-best .452 hitting. The Vikings hit .311 as a team, while out-acing the Aztecs 7-to-5.
Aug. 26, 2023, Portland State 3, Cal State Fullerton 0: The Vikings recorded 16 aces in a three-set sweep of Cal State Fullerton, putting them one off the program's three-set match record that has stood since 1995. Sophia Meyers had six aces individually, giving her the most by a Viking in a match since 2014.