Vikings Ride Hot Streak into Home Matches against Oregon, Oregon State

Match Notes (PDF)

FIRST SERVE
After three straight weekends on the road, the Portland State volleyball finally returns home this weekend when the program plays host to the state of Oregon between matches against the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers. The Vikings host the Ducks at 7 p.m. Friday at Viking Pavilion, while the Beavers come in for a 5 p.m. match Saturday.

It's the latest home opener for the Vikings since 2017, when the Vikings didn't play their first home match until the fifth weekend of the season. That was due to the construction of Viking Pavilion. Discounting that construction year, this will be the latest home opener for the Vikings since 2014, when they also opened their home schedule against Oregon during the fourth week of the season.

The Vikings haven't seemed to mind the road-heavy start to the season, though. If anything, it gave a young team a chance to gel as the Vikings looked to incorporate 11 underclassmen on a 16-player roster that returned only four years of starting experience.

The gelling process moved out of the liquid phase last weekend as the Vikings went 3-0 at The Joust Tournament, hosted by California Baptist. It was the first 3-0 tournament weekend for the Vikings since 2021, and the first at a road tournament since 2017.

The Vikings opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over previously unbeaten New Mexico. The Lobos came into the match leading the Mountain West Conference and ranked 21st nationally with 2.13 aces per set, and yet, the Vikings held the Lobos to just four aces in the match while recording five of their own. Seniors Tyra Schaub and Sydney Stenson both set career highs for kills in the match. Schaub recorded the first double-double of her career with 13 kills on .222 hitting to go with 11 digs, while Stenson finished with 11 kills on .320 hitting.

Schaub topped her career high the next day with a team-high 15 kills on .268 hitting in the Vikings' five-set win over host California Baptist. The bigger storyline in that match was the Vikings' serving, as they recorded a season-high 15 aces behind a career-high six from Paige Stepaniuk. In addition to Stepaniuk, Ava Blascziek and Alivia Eikenberg recorded three aces each in the match.

The Vikings then capped the weekend with their best offensive showing of the season, hitting a season-high .272 in a 3-0 sweep of Cal State Fullerton. Freshman Willow Watson led the way, recording 14 kills on 23 attempts without committing an attack error. Watson's .609 hitting percentage in the match marked the best by a Viking since Gabby Hollins had 15 kills on .636 hitting against Northern Colorado on Sept. 23, 2023.

Watson was named to The Joust All-Tournament Team afterwards, along with Stepaniuk and Reese Biesemeyer. Stepaniuk was named tournament MVP and later Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week after anchoring the Vikings' back row all weekend.

The Vikings will have their hands full against the Ducks and Beavers this weekend, particularly at the net. Both Oregon and Oregon State come into the week ranked highly in blocks. The Ducks rank 14th nationally with 2.84 blocks per set, while the Beavers are close behind at 30th nationally with 2.73 per set.

Iva Šucurovic leads the Ducks individually, as she tops the Big Ten while ranking 13th nationally with 1.55 blocks per set. Šucurovic is one of six Ducks who average at least 1.50 kills per set offensively. Valentina Vaulet leads the team with 3.48 kills per set, while Alana Clemente, Maria Tabacuks and Sophia Meyers – a former Viking – average 2.76, 2.48 and 2.17 kills per set, respectively. Ksenija Tomic and Šucurovic, both from Serbia, follow at 1.87 and 1.55 kills per set. Vaulet also leads the Ducks with 0.52 aces per set, ranking her sixth in the Big Ten and 71st nationally.

The Ducks just dropped their first match of the season this past Thursday, losing in five sets to San Diego State at the LBSU Tournament. They bounced back with 3-0 and 3-1 wins over Long Beach State and UC Riverside the next two days, however, and head into this week 7-1 on the season.

The Beavers, meanwhile, shook off an 0-3 start with five straight victories coming into this week. That win streak includes a 3-0 record at the Beavers' home tournament, the ASICS Invitational, this past weekend.

Lauren Rumel helped lead the Beavers to their unbeaten home tournament. She picked up WCC Offensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 4.3 kills per set on .306 hitting this past weekend. Alana Marrs was also named the WCC Freshman of the Week after averaging 2.6 kills on .467 hitting to go with 1.2 blocks per set at the ASICS Invitational.

Rumel now ranks second in the WCC in both kills (4.12) and points (4.63) per set. Marrs, meanwhile, ranks third on the team with 2.46 kills per set, while she's one of three different Beavers to rank among the WCC leaders in blocks. Nathalie Scholz tops the conference while ranking 15th nationally with 1.50 blocks per set, while Marrs and Annika Hester – a preseason All-WCC pick along with Rumel – rank ninth and 13th in the conference with 1.08 and 0.96 blocks per set, respectively.

The Ducks and Beavers will play each other before either team faces the Vikings this weekend. The Beavers will host the rivalry match at 6 p.m. Thursday at Gill Coliseum. That should whet the appetite for volleyball fans in the state of Oregon before the Vikings serve the full course at Viking Pavilion Friday and Saturday.

And it's about time for some home cooking for the Vikings.

MATCH #10: PORTLAND STATE (4-5) vs. OREGON (7-1)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Friday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m. PT, Portland, Ore. (Viking Pavilion)
SCOUTING OREGON: The Oregon Ducks dropped their first match of the season, 3-2, to San Diego State at the LBSU Tournament this past Thursday. They bounced back with 3-0 and 3-1 wins over Long Beach State and UC Riverside the next two days, however, and head into this week 7-1 on the season. The Ducks' sweep of Long Beach State gives them a common opponent with the Vikings, who also swept Long Beach State on Sept. 4. The Ducks also played another Big Sky opponent in Montana State, who they swept at the Bobcats' home tournament on Aug. 31. The Ducks are in their first year under head coach Trent Kersten, who came to the Ducks after being named the 2024 WCC Coach of the Year while at Loyola Marymount. Big Ten coaches picked the Ducks to finish 12th in the 18-team league in their preseason poll. Statistically, the Ducks rank highest in blocks, as their average of 2.84 per set ranks them fourth in the Big Ten and 14th nationally. Iva Šucurovic leads the Big Ten while ranking 13th nationally with 1.55 blocks per set individually. Šucurovic is also one of six different players who average at least 1.50 kills per set offensively for the Ducks. Valentina Vaulet leads the team with 3.48 kills per set, while Alana Clemente, Maria Tabacuks and Sophia Meyers – a former Viking – average 2.76, 2.48 and 2.17 kills per set, respectively. Ksenija Tomic and Šucurovic follow those four with 1.87 and 1.55 kills per set. Vaulet also leads the Ducks with 0.52 aces per set, ranking her sixth in the Big Ten and 71st nationally. Clemente leads the offense in terms of efficiency, as she ranks 11th in the Big Ten and 96th nationally with a .369 hitting percentage. As a team, the Ducks rank eighth in the conference and 39th nationally with a .269 hitting percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Ducks, 27-24. However, all but one of the Vikings' wins came before 1988. The Ducks have won the last 12 meetings between the two teams in a row and 18 of the last 19, with the Vikings' lone recent win coming on Sept. 8, 2005.

MATCH #11: PORTLAND STATE (4-5) vs. OREGON STATE (5-3)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Saturday, Sept. 20, 5 p.m. PT, Portland, Ore. (Viking Pavilion)
SCOUTING OREGON STATE: The Oregon State Beavers bounced back from an 0-3 start to their season with five straight wins heading into their rivalry match with Oregon Thursday at Gill Coliseum. The first four of the Beavers' current five-match win streak all came in sweeps, including a 3-0 sweep of Montana State out of the Big Sky Conference last Thursday. One of the Beavers' three opening losses came to a common opponent with the Vikings in Long Beach State. The Beavers lost to The Beach in three sets in a true road match on Aug. 31, while the Vikings swept The Beach in a neutral-site match on Sept. 4. Coming into the season, the Beavers were picked to finish tied for fourth in the West Coast Conference, while Lauren Rumel and Annika Hester were named to the All-WCC Preseason Team. Rumel will be coming off a big weekend, as she earned WCC Offensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 4.3 kills per set on .306 hitting at the Beavers' home tournament, the ASICS Invitational. Additionally, Alana Marrs is the reigning WCC Freshman of the Week after averaging 2.6 kills on .467 hitting to go with 1.2 blocks per set at the ASICS Invitational. Statistically, the Beavers rank in the top three of the WCC in most statistical categories. They lead the conference while ranking 30th nationally with 2.73 blocks per set. They also rank second in the conference and 18th nationally in kills per set (14.2), and third in the conference in both hitting percentage (.244) and opponent hitting percentage (.203). The one category the Beavers don't rank highly in is aces, where they rank 12th in the WCC with 1.19 per set. Individually, Rumel ranks second in the WCC in both kills (4.12) and points (4.63) per set. Maeli Cormier and Marrs rank second and third on the team behind Rumel with 2.77 and 2.46 kills per set, respectively. Hester and Keila Gabriel follow them with 1.96 and 1.90 kills per set. Three different Beavers rank among the WCC leaders in blocks. Nathalie Scholz tops the conference while ranking 15th nationally with 1.50 blocks per set. Marrs and Hester, meanwhile, rank ninth and 13th in the conference with 1.08 and 0.96 blocks per set, respectively.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Beavers, 35-12. The Vikings had won three in a row in the series until the Beavers swept them in Corvallis last season. The Vikings have won their last two meetings against the Beavers at Viking Pavilion between a pair of 3-1 wins in 2022 and 2023.

STORYLINES/STREAKS/RECORDS

The Vikings went 3-0 at The Joust Tournament, hosted by California Baptist, last week. It was the team's first 3-0 tournament since 2021, and the first one on the road since 2017. The Vikings swept the weekend behind a 3-1 victory over previously unbeaten New Mexico Thursday, a 3-2 victory over host California Baptist Friday, and a 3-0 win over Cal State Fullerton Saturday.
Reese Biesemeyer, Paige Steapniuk and Willow Watson were all named to The Joust All-Tournament Team, while Stepaniuk was named tournament MVP. Stepaniuk was also named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week following the Vikings' tournament sweep.
The Vikings won their first true road match of the season Friday with their 3-2 victory over California Baptist.
Friday's match against Oregon will mark the Vikings' home opener. It's the latest home opener for the Vikings since 2017 when they played their first home match on the fifth weekend of the season due to construction of Viking Pavilion. Discounting the construction year, this will be the latest home opener for the Vikings since they played their home opener during the fourth week of the season – also against Oregon – in 2014.
The Vikings had been 0-5 when losing the first set this season until coming back to beat both New Mexico and California Baptist last weekend after dropping the opener.
The Vikings set a season high with 15 aces in their five-set win over California Baptist last Friday. Paige Stepaniuk set an individual career high with six, while Ava Blascziek and Alivia Eikenberg both had three.
The Vikings set a season high with a .272 hitting percentage in their 3-0 sweep of Cal State Fullerton Saturday. Freshman Willow Watson led the way with 14 kills on .609 hitting, the highest hitting percentage by a Viking in a match in which they recorded at least 12 kills since Gabby Hollins recorded 15 kills on .636 hitting against Northern Colorado on Sept. 23, 2023.
Seniors Tyra Schaub and Sydney Stenson both recorded career highs for kills in the Vikings' 3-1 win over New Mexico. Schaub recorded 13 kills on .222 hitting to go with 11 digs, while Stenson finished with 11 kills on .320 hitting. Schaub topped her new career high a day later with 15 kills on .268 hitting and seven digs against California Baptist Friday.
The Vikings have played 14 two-point sets already this season. They went 3-0 in two-point sets last weekend, including a 17-15 victory in the fifth set against host California Baptist. Overall, the Vikings are now 8-6 in two-point sets this season. They are also 3-2 in sets that go into extra points.
Freshman Alivia Eikenberg has led the Vikings in kills in six of their nine matches so far this season. She also has a team-high four double-doubles, including two more last week at The Joust Tournament. Eikenberg heads into this weekend ranked second in the Big Sky in points (4.21) and third in kills (3.64) per set.
With 12.0 blocks in Thursday's 3-1 win over New Mexico, the Vikings have already had as many matches with 10+ blocks this season (4) as they had during all of last season. The Vikings head into this weekend ranked fourth in the Big Sky and 76th nationally with 2.40 blocks per set. Naomi White ranks fifth in the conference and 66th nationally with 1.29 blocks per set individually.
The Vikings have three players ranked in the top 10 of the Big Sky Conference for aces per set. Allison Panter ranks tied for second in the conference with 0.47 aces per set, while Ava Blascziek and Paige Stepaniuk rank seventh and eight with 0.35 and 0.34 aces per set, respectively.
Willow Watson and Naomi White both rank in the top 10 of the Big Sky Conference for hitting percentage. Watson, after her career match against Cal State Fullerton last Saturday, ranks eighth in the conference with a .333 hitting percentage. White, meanwhile, ranks ninth while hitting .313 this season.
Junior transfer Ava Blascziek set or tied career highs for assists (28), digs (14) and aces (3) in the Vikings' 3-1 win over New Mexico. Blascziek heads into this weekend ranked 10th in the Big Sky with 5.57 assists per set.
Junior libero Paige Stepaniuk is averaging a career-best 3.74 digs per set this season, ranking her fifth in the Big Sky Conference. She needs only 48 more digs to enter the career top 10 at Portland State for digs during the program's Big Sky era (1996-present).
True and redshirt freshmen account for 56.1 percent of the Vikings' kills so far this season. True freshman Alivia Eikenberg accounts for most of that with 120 total kills (3.64 per set), while classmate Willow Watson has 72 total kills (2.06 per set).
Head Coach Michael Seemann described his team's approach to fall camp as, "we've given up continuity for opportunity." To that end, the Vikings played 14 of the 15 players available to them on the opening weekend of the season, and Seemann says he will continue to shuffle the lineup throughout the preseason.
The Vikings have 11 underclassmen on their 16-player roster, while the Vikings' six true freshmen represent the program's largest freshman class since 2019. Additionally, out of the three returning starters from last season, only junior libero Paige Stepaniuk has more than a year experience starting for the Vikings.
Naomi White was named to the inaugural Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team before the start of the season. White, who was one of three middle blockers on the 10-member team, earned the honor after a breakout 2024 season in which she ranked fifth in the Big Sky in hitting percentage (.330) and ninth in blocks per set (1.04).
The Vikings lost their top two hitters from last season – Makayla Lewis and Carisa Barron – as well as 66.5 percent of their total kills in 2024. Naomi White and Reese Biesemeyer represent the Vikings' top two returning hitters after averaging 1.96 and 1.65 kills per set, respectively.
Head coach Michael Seemann needs 14 more wins to reach 300 in his Portland State career. Whenever he reaches the milestone, he will become the third different Portland State head women's volleyball coach to reach 300 wins. Seemann will join Marlene Piper (445 wins, program record, 1969-72 & 1974-83) and Jeff Mozzochi (317 wins, 1984-92 & 2001-06).
Big Sky coaches picked the Vikings to finish sixth in the 10-team Big Sky Conference before the start of the season. Weber State represents the Big Sky Conference favorites, topping the preseason coaches poll with five first-place votes.