Portland State University Athletics

PORTLAND, Ore. — Whatever the Portland State volleyball team dressed up as for Halloween this year needs to be what they wear for the rest of the year.
 
The Vikings (11-12, 7-5) simultaneously set a season high for hitting percentage (.395) while holding the Vandals (12-12, 3-9) to negative-.022 hitting, a season low for a Viking opponent. It all added up to a dominant, 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-17, 25-14) for the Vikings Saturday at Viking Pavilion.
 
The .395 hitting percentage was not only the Vikings' best mark this season, but also the team's best mark in close to four years. The last time they hit better in a match was Nov. 10, 2022, when they hit .471 in another win over Idaho.
 
It had been 12 years since the Vikings last held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage. Eastern Washington on Oct. 11, 2014, was the Vikings' last victim when they held the Eagles to negative-.036 hitting. The Vandals didn't hit better than .000 in any set, finishing the first two sets at .000 exactly, then hitting negative-.047 in the third.
 
The dual seasonal bests showed a new level of focus for the Vikings, even amid a winning streak that they extended to five matches with their win over the Vandals.
 
"Tonight, we did not leave any points on the table. We just snuff them out early. Never really let them get confident. When they were in system, we were able to touch up their middles and not let them produce," Seemann said of the team's focus.
 
The Vikings had that level of focus from the jump. They hit .524 in the opening set – their best mark in a single set in over two years. The last time they hit better in a set was a .607 mark in the fourth set against Montana on Sept. 28, 2024.
 
The foursome of Alivia Eikenberg and Ashley Repetti on the left, and Reese Biesemeyer and Brenna Coffman in the middle, was nearly untouchable in the opening set. They combined for 11 of the Vikings' 12 kills while hitting .688 between them in the first set. They'd go on to record 36 of the team's 40 kills in the match while hitting a combined .479 between them.
 
Those four were nearly perfectly balanced, too, a credit to setter Ava Blascziek who recorded 27 assists and eight digs in the match. Blascziek fed Biesemeyer, Coffman and Repetti for three kills each in the opening set, while Eikenberg finished with two.
 
The Vikings went on to hit .300 or better in the next two sets. Eikenberg and Repetti both finished with 11 kills while hitting .435 and .417, respectively. Biesemeyer tied her season high with nine kills on .615 hitting while also contributing a match-high four blocks at the net. Coffman finished with five kills on .455 hitting from the other middle spot.
 
"We have been striving for continuity, and I think the results of that are a better offensive night, a higher side out percentage [the Vikings sided out 72.3 percent of the time]. That is also attributed to our passing, our serve receive. I think we're just getting more confident in the lanes. And yet, I feel like I've got hitters that aren't being used that are ready to go.
 
"So, I would say the state of the program is in very good shape. We did a lot of hard things to get to this point."
 
The Vikings set themselves up to hit such a high percentage with improved passing from their first match against the Vandals. Idaho beat the Vikings 3-1 on Oct. 15 behind 12 aces – a season high for a Viking opponent. Seemann said his team was determined to show they were better than that Saturday, which they did, holding the Vandals to just three aces.
 
Idaho's Kiana Greer had five aces on the Vikings in their previous match, but the Vikings held her to just one Saturday. What's more, they didn't let her hold her serve for very long. In the match on Oct. 15, she had 17 serve attempts, but the Vikings held her to just nine Saturday.
 
Sophomore defensive specialist Jessica Truong and senior libero Paige Stepaniuk joined Eikenberg and Repetti as the team's primary passers against the Vandals. All of them showed exceptional improvement from the last time.
 
Truong led all players with 11 digs, while Repetti and setter Ava Blascziek added eight digs each. Stepaniuk had only six digs, but she was perfect on 11 service receptions.
 
The Vikings now head into the home stretch of the season with some momentum, having finished October with five straight wins.
 
"I like the way we're playing heading into November," Seemann said.
 
How could he not be? Just keep the Halloween costume on for the next month.
 
MATCH NOTES:

• The Vikings snapped a two-match losing streak to the Vandals with Saturday's dominant win. They extended their lead in the all-time series to 25-11. The Vikings have won five straight matches over the Vandals at home, where they are 15-5 all-time against Idaho.
• The Vikings out-blocked their opponent for the first time in seven matches, out-blocking the Vandals, 6.0-to-2.0.
• Repetti has two matches with 10+ kills and .400+ hitting this season. Besides Saturday's match, she had 10 kills on .400 hitting exactly in the Vikings' win over Murray State. The Vikings hit .360 as a team in that match, which had been their season high before Saturday.

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