PORTLAND, Ore. — Playing for its first 3-0 start to Big Sky play since 2017, the Portland State volleyball team fell victim to the same foe that spoiled their start in 2017: Sacramento State. The Hornets put together a strong offensive showing to beat the Vikings, 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22), Friday at Viking Pavilion.
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Both teams now sit among a rare seven-way tie for first place in the Big Sky standings, joining Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado and Weber State all at 2-1 in conference play.
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The Hornets (9-6, 2-1) set a season high for a Portland State opponent by hitting .322 in the match. Victoria Marthaler led the way for the Hornets with a dominant individual showing, recording 28 kills on .397 hitting to go with 14 digs. Marthaler's 28 kills are the most by an individual against the Vikings (6-8, 2-1) since Montana State's Kira Thomsen recorded 32 kills in a five-set match on Nov. 5, 2022.
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The Hornets won the service game to establish their dominance offensively. They out-aced the Vikings 8-to-6 while committing fewer errors (10-to-12). A number of other serves didn't go down for aces but set up easy kills for the Hornets.
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"We prepared well for this team. The information was there. But I don't feel like our focus was. We didn't transfer that information out onto the court," Portland State head coach
Michael Seemann said afterwards.
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"We started this match discussing how there would be long rallies. This is a long-rally team. You're going to be in long rallies. Stay organized, get back to base quickly and manage points as they go on, and we didn't."
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Despite the Hornets' dominance offensively, the Vikings remained in every set. They led 23-22 in the second set before the Hornets won the final three points to go up 2-0 in the match. Then, after the Vikings won the third set, 25-22, a 7-1 PSU run late in the fourth leveled the set at 22-all. The Hornets won the final three points from there to close out the match, however.
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The Vikings ended up hitting .253 for their second highest mark of the season. Outside hitters
Alivia Eikenberg and
Tyra Schaub both went into double figures for the third straight match, recording 18 and 14 kills, respectively.
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Eikenberg's 18 kills (on .158 hitting) came along with a match-high 20 digs. The 20 digs marked a new career high for the freshman, who also had two aces in the match.
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"She continues to be productive for us. She was a bright spot for us defensively," Seemann said of Eikenberg.
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Schaub, meanwhile, hit .268 on her 14 kills while narrowly missing a double-double with nine digs. Schaub played a critical role late in the match. She had kills on three of the Vikings' four points in a 4-0 run that gave them a 24-21 lead in the third set. She then had three kills in the Vikings' 7-1 run to tie the fourth set at 22-all.
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Schaub now has 10+ kills in the Vikings' last four matches during which time she's hitting .276. For context, Schaub had recorded 10+ kills in only four matches over her entire career before her current streak.
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The Vikings also got contributions offensively from
Reese Biesemeyer – recording seven kills on .400 hitting – as well as right-side hitters
Sydney Stenson (six kills on .385 hitting),
Willow Watson (five kills on .400 hitting) and
Amber Walker (three kills on .750 hitting).
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Setter
Ava Blascziek and
Allison Panter led the Vikings to their high hitting percentage with 24 and 23 assists, respectively. Blascziek added 10 digs for her third double-double of the season while Panter led the way from the service line with three aces.
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But the Vikings didn't have the defense to match Friday. They recorded only 3.0 blocks in the match, tied for their lowest total of the season overall and their lowest total in a four-set match.
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The Vikings get a chance to bounce back next week against two of the other six teams tied with them atop the Big Sky standings. The Vikings travel to Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado for matches Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PT and Saturday at 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. MT, respectively.
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Match Notes:
- The Vikings fell to 28-55 all-time against the Hornets with Friday's loss.
- Eikenberg's 18 kills and 20 digs gave the freshman her seventh double-double of the season already. That's the fifth-most by a Viking freshman in a season since 2010.
- The Vikings lost their first two-point set since Sept. 6, when California Baptist took the second and third sets of their match against the Vikings both by 25-23 scores. The Vikings are 10-7 in two-point sets this season.
- The Hornets' .531 hitting percentage in the fourth set was the second-best mark within a set by a PSU opponent this season. Oregon set the highest mark, hitting .567 in the second set of their match against the Vikings on Sept. 19.