MOSCOW, Idaho — All teams talk about a 1-0 mentality. The idea being that records shouldn't matter, and you just have to win the match in front of you. For the Portland State volleyball team, that took on extra meaning as the Vikings looked to turn the page from a tough non-conference schedule and start Big Sky Conference play 1-0 with a win over Idaho Thursday Night at Memorial Gym.
Job done.
The Vikings (2-10, 1-0) opened their conference schedule with a 3-1 win (25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20) over the Vandals (1-11, 0-1), getting off on the right foot in what amounts to a new season within Big Sky play.
"Everyone entered this week 0-0 in Big Sky play," Portland State head coach
Michael Seemann said of the team's mentality. "We recalled all the positive experiences we had as a team leading up to this moment. We leaned on our strengths and executed well tonight."
Those strengths saw the Vikings repeatedly serve the Vandals tough. The Vikings only ended up with five aces – against eight for the Vandals – but they had several more serves that didn't go down for aces that still set up easy finishes for the team's hitters.
That was reflected in the offensive numbers for the Vikings, who outhit the Vandals .258-to-.197 in the match. The Vikings hit .293 or better in the second and fourth sets, when they recorded 17 and 18 kills, respectively. The Vikings' 60 kills across the whole match marked a new season high, bettering the 59 kills they had over five sets against Nevada on Sept. 1.
What's more, the distribution was there for the Vikings Thursday as five different players recorded at least seven kills in the match. Setter
Ella Hartford led that distribution, recording 46 assists (a four-set season high) to go with three kills of her own.
Carisa Barron claimed the lion share of the distribution from Hartford while posting a career night against the Vandals. Barron recorded a career-high 21 kills on .298 hitting, and was steady throughout with at least four kills in every set.
"Carisa is capable of going off offensively, and tonight we got a glimpse of exactly that," Seemann said of Barron.
Middle blockers
Naomi White and
Reese Biesemeyer complimented Barron throughout Thursday night's match. Both players hit .333 or better. White recorded 14 kills on .520 hitting while Biesemeyer finished with seven kills on .333 hitting.
"We really liked our matchups in the middle and we were able to give our middles good looks on offense, off of our first contact," Seemann said.
Those three – Barron, White and Biesemeyer – helped close out the Vandals. Idaho had gotten back into the match after taking the third set, 25-21. But Barron, White and Biesemeyer shut the door in the fourth set while combining for 15 kills on .636 hitting in the frame. Barron and White both recorded six kills in the fourth set, while Biesemeyer had three kills on three swings.
Biesemeyer also contributed from the service line early in the set, as she served during a 6-0 PSU run that gave the Vikings a quick 9-4 lead. White had two kills during the run while Barron had one.
Barron had her moment a little later when she strung three kills together during a stretch of five points that gave the Vikings a 15-9 lead.
White then erased some late momentum for Idaho after the Vandals closed to within two points. White responded with back-to-back kills to put the Vikings back up by four at 21-17, then added another kill after a service error.
Barron closed it out for the Vikings with a kill on match point.
Outside of those three, Lewis recorded eight kills and 10 digs.
Delaney Nicoll added seven kills and seven digs.
Defensively,
Paige Stepaniuk tied for the match high with 13 digs to go with four assists and two aces. White, meanwhile, led the Vikings at the net with five blocks (two solo, three assists), while Biesemeyer chipped in three blocks. Nicoll, Hartford and Barron all added two blocks each.
The Vikings will close out their opening weekend of Big Sky play back home, as they host Montana Saturday for a match at 5 p.m. Montana opened its conference schedule with a 3-1 loss to one of the Big Sky's preseason favorites in Northern Colorado. That left them 0-1 in the conference standings.
But that doesn't matter. Both teams will be looking to go 1-0 on Saturday. Just like the Vikings went 1-0 Thursday.
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 22-9 all-time against the Vandals with Thursday's win…Lewis' eight kills moved her into the Division I career top 10 at Portland State, as she now ranks 10th all-time with 873 in her time at Portland State…The Vikings' .258 hitting percentage was just one percentage point behind their season high of .259, which they set against San Diego State on Sept. 6.
