PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State volleyball program passed an early season test Sunday, winning an exhibition match, 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21), over a quality Central Washington team that made the Vikings earn it.
 
Tasked with replacing five starters and integrating seven newcomers, the Vikings still controlled every set they won behind an offense that saw three players go into double figures for kills while a fourth (Naomi White) finished with nine. The fact that the Vikings did that while playing in new roles and new positions against a Wildcat team that came into the match ranked 22nd nationally in the AVCA NCAA Division II preseason poll, makes for an encouraging start to the season.
 
"That's arguably a Big Sky team [in terms of quality]," Seemann said of Central Washington after the match.

"We have to be adaptable. Everybody has these slight nuances of strengths and weaknesses, and I think it's our job to shore up those weaknesses and put those people where they can have the most success. It's going to take a while to figure out that puzzle, but a very, very promising opening match, for sure."
 
The kill production of the Vikings' offense got the team past the Wildcats Sunday. That's a tribute to the Vikings' talent on the pins as Carisa Barron (14), Makayla Lewis (12) and Delaney Nicoll (10) all went into double figures for kills while White finished with nine kills on a team-high .500 hitting. They led the Vikings to 15 or more kills in three of the four sets Sunday, all of which the Vikings won.
 
Ella Hartford led the Vikings to the even distribution all while alternating between a 5-1 and 6-2 with freshman Cali-Jo Shigemasa throughout the match. Hartford finished with 42 assists to go with 10 digs, giving her a double-double along with Lewis who added 12 digs to her 12 kills.
 
Even still, Seemann noted there's still room for growth for the Viking attack. The Vikings seemed error-prone at times in Sunday's match, as they finished with 26 errors against the Wildcats, some of which were self-inflicted.
 
"It hurt us a little bit when we were in a 5-1 and didn't have a really good weapon on the right side. And obviously we also put four different people on the right side, so there's certainly some moving pieces, but it felt like we got stalled in certain rotations," Seemann said.
 
"We need to continue to try and build a better 6-2, but also our offense in rotations four, five and six. Because everybody we put on the right side showed promise. We typically terminated what we gave them, which is what it should be on the right side."
 
Some of that will come when the Vikings get freshman Allison Panter back from a sprained ankle she suffered on the second day of fall camp. Panter figured to split the setting role with Hartford this season, with Shigemasa filling in for the time despite being a natural libero/defensive specialist.
 
Even still, the Vikings seemed in control Sunday with the exception of the second set. They never trailed in either the first or third sets, then took a commanding 20-12 lead in the fourth set before a late rally from the Wildcats made things interesting.
 
The Vikings got off to a 5-0 lead in the first set that included two aces from Hartford. The strong serving proved a theme throughout Sunday's match as the Vikings recorded 11 aces as a team – a number that would have been their second-best mark of the season last year if Sunday had been a counting match. Sophomore Paige Stepaniuk led that effort with five aces, which would have been one more than her career high, again, if it had been a counting match.
 
"We've got an arsenal of weapons back there," Seemann said of his team's serving. "It's just a matter of finding out who's hot and what serves are affecting them. Devon [DeNecochea]'s got some nasty serves, Cali-Jo puts something on it, Paige certainly struck the ball well today."
 
Beyond the serving, Lewis and Barron helped get the Vikings established early on. Lewis, who suffered an ACL tear during the opening match of last season, got her first kill since that injury on the fourth point of the match. She ended up with five kills to go with five digs in the first set alone. Barron, meanwhile, was efficient with six kills on .500 hitting.
 
Lewis added five kills and six digs in the third set when Hartford and the Vikings were able to work the middles more, feeding White and Taylor Hunter for four and two kills, respectively. White's four kills in the third set came on only five swings as she hit .800 in the frame, while Hunter's two kills came on three swings as she hit .667.
 
Nicoll's best set came in the fourth when she recorded three kills on five swings to hit .600. Two of Nicoll's three kills in the third came amid a 10-2 run that broke open a 9-all tie early in the set.
 
Of course, the Wildcats – who were coming off a 3-2 exhibition win over Eastern Washington a day earlier – answered with a 7-0 run to get back within one at 20-19 a little later. Freshman middle blocker Reese Biesemeyer snapped the Vikings out of their bad stretch with her first kill of the match. Lewis added her last kill of the match on the next point, while Barron smoked a ball from the right side two points later to make it 23-20. Biesemeyer added a second kill to get the Vikings to match point at 24-21, setting the stage for Stepaniuk, who finished the match off on the next point with her fifth ace.
 
The alternating runs in the fourth set helped encapsulate both the promise and work ahead for the Vikings. The team remains in build mode as all the new starters and new players adjust to their new roles.
 
"I just told the team this exact same thing, but we have six seniors, and yet everyone except Ella and Taylor are in different roles than they've been in. Carisa's on the left, Delaney's on the left. Yes, we're experienced, but we don't have experience in these new roles and in this program in some cases. That's where it's going to take some time to continue to grow," Seemann said.
  
It's what you'd expect from an exhibition. It's not going to be pretty, but you still want to get the win. The Vikings did that Sunday, and still have their best volleyball ahead of them.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings out-killed the Wildcats 55-to-46 despite being outhit .213-to-.209…Hunter led the Vikings at the net with four blocks (one solo, three assisted) while the Vikings had 8.0 blocks as a team…White's nine kills would have been a career high had it been a counting match.
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