Portland State University Athletics

CHENEY, Wash. — The Portland State volleyball team ended two waits with one victory Saturday, sweeping Eastern Washington 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-22) on the Eagles' Reese Court.
 
The victory marked the Vikings' first on the road this season, snapping a 12-match road losing streak that dated back to the last three road matches of last season.
 
It also ended the wait for head coach Michael Seemann's 300th career victory, as the 20-year veteran coach hit the milestone with the win. Seemann joins fellow Portland State volleyball coaches Marlene Piper (445 career wins) and Jeff Mozzochi (371 career wins) in the 300-win club.
 
"The wins belong to the outstanding staff we currently have and the past coaches who were with me during this tenure," Seemann said modestly afterwards.
 
"I'm proud of this team for the win today. This is a young group who found a way to win. Third-set timeout, I said that we had been here before [up two sets on the road, which the Vikings were at Idaho State on Oct. 3 before losing in five]. I asked, 'what are we going to do in this moment that's different than what we've done in the past?' They stepped up and answered the call."
 
Sure enough, after the Vikings (7-12, 3-5) controlled most of the match, the Eagles (8-12, 2-6) pushed ahead late in the third set. A 5-1 run that included three PSU attacking errors gave them a 19-17 lead. They still led 21-19 before the Vikings went to freshman Maryn Hall to close things out. Hall recorded back-to-back kills to tie it at 21-all, then capped a 6-1 PSU run with another kill on match point to end it.
 
Hall led all players with 13 kills on .286 hitting in the match. Willow Watson joined her in double figures with 11 kills on .300 hitting. Watson recording 10+ kills has been a good omen for the Vikings, who are now 4-1 this season when Watson records double-digit kills.
 
Defensively, the Vikings put together their best match of the season, allowing the Eagles to record only 20 kills on .034 hitting. Both marked new season lows for a Viking opponent.
 
The Vikings put the Eagles out of system offensively with strong serving. They out-aced the Eagles 8-to-3. Paige Stepaniuk set a season high with three aces individually. Hall and Ava Blascziek added two aces each, while Asya Akbulut recorded her first ace of the season.
 
Five of their eight aces came in a dominant first set for the Vikings. Blascziek recorded two back-to-back as part of an 8-0 run in the middle of the set that separated the Vikings from the Eagles.
 
The Vikings stayed in front at the start of the second set, though the Eagles came back to tie it late at 18-all. The Vikings responded well, winning seven of the final nine points including back-to-back kills from Hall to end it.
 
Besides Hall and Watson, Alivia Eikenberg and Katarina Kosic recorded six kills each. Middle blocker Brenna Coffman recorded five kills on .364 hitting.
 
Stepaniuk led the defense with 18 digs, tying her season high, while also recording five assists.
 
Saturday's victory was also a win for the 6-2 formation. The Vikings had leaned into a 5-1 for their first two wins in conference, but the 6-2 proved it could win a match for the Vikings as well with Saturday's result. Akbulut helped in that regard as she set season highs for assists (19) and digs (7). Blascziek followed with 17 assists and seven digs.
 
The breakthrough on the road comes at an opportune time for the Vikings as they continue their road trip at Northern Arizona Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. start. That will close a three-match road trip for the Vikings and lead into a seven-match stretch in which the Vikings play five at home.
 
So, it was good for the Vikings to get the road breakthrough now to prove to themselves they could win away from home. And the fact that it meant their coach didn't have to wait any longer for a career milestone made it all the sweeter.
 
MATCH NOTES:

• Saturday's win was the Vikings' first over the Eagles in Cheney since 2022. They had lost two in a row on the road to the Eagles since then. The Vikings improved to 39-32 all-time against the Eagles overall.
• Hall has recorded double-digit kills in four of the Vikings' last six matches. She leads the team with 2.83 kills per set in conference matches.
• The Vikings out-killed (42-to-20), out-hit (.188-to-.034), out-aced (8-to-3) and out-dug (46-to-39) the Eagles. The only category the Eagles won was blocks (10.0-to-4.0).

Read Full Article