Portland State University Athletics

SEATTLE, Wash. — Portland State head volleyball coach Michael Seemann wanted his team to be stronger on the road this season. The Vikings showed that quality Saturday, coming into Seattle U's Redhawk Center and beating their Cascadia rivals, 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 18-25, 25-16), in an exhibition.
 
"I thought we got more comfortable in a new environment as the match went on. That is part of being on the road and we adjusted well. Once we got comfortable, our offense began to click," Seemann said of the win.
 
The Vikings buried the Redhawks behind long runs in all three sets they won. They ended the first set on a 7-0 run, turning a 19-18 deficit into a 25-19 set victory. They then scored eight straight points to go up 11-5 early in the second set. The biggest run came in the fourth set when the Vikings rattled off 11 points in a row to turn an 11-6 deficit into a 17-11 lead that they would not relinquish. The Vikings scored 19 of the final 24 points in the fourth set, including their 11-0 run.
 
Strong serving helped the Vikings stay on the front foot. Ava Blascziek recorded six aces by herself, including two in the Vikings' run in the fourth set. The Vikings had five aces as a team in the fourth set, including one by Ashley Repetti on match point.
 
"Serving will continue to be a premium for us. This match tells us how important it is to deliver tough serves, regardless of the environment," Seemann said.
 
The serving helped fuel a strong defensive showing for the Vikings in their three set victories. They held the Redhawks to single digits in kills in all three sets while Seattle U didn't hit better than .129 in any of the three. The Vikings held the Redhawks to just four kills on negative-.074 hitting in the opening frame.
 
"I'm very proud of our defense today," Seemann said. "We did a great job of producing quality touches and swings in transition."
 
The most encouraging part of Saturday may have been that everybody contributed to the result. The Vikings played 17 of their 18 players Saturday, rolling out different lineups in all four sets. That's similar to how Seemann has run his fall practices in the leadup to the season, with everyone getting lots of live reps with different combinations of players.
 
The varied lineups meant the Viking offense took a little while to get started Saturday, but once it did, it rolled. The Vikings hit .212 for the match while recording at least 11 kills in all four sets.
 
Their best offense came in the second set, when they recorded 17 kills on .342 hitting. Alivia Eikenberg and Brenna Coffman led the offense in that frame. Eikenberg put down six kills on .556 hitting from the outside, while Coffman recorded five kills on .714 hitting from the middle. Blascziek and Willow Watson also had two kills each without committing an attack error in the frame.
 
Blascziek earned praise from Seemann after she finished with an all-around stat line of 27 assists, 11 digs and three kills to go with her six aces in the match.
 
"Ava did a great job of pulling us out of some pickles. She really delivered on the service line today," Seemann said.
 
The Vikings also got strong offense out of their right-side hitters. Watson and freshmen Katelyn Davey and Katarina Kosic all played there. Davey led the group with six kills on .429 hitting without committing an attack error. Watson and Kosic finished with five kills each on .333 and .300 hitting, respectively.
 
The middles also contributed offensively. Coffman finished with seven kills on .600 hitting, while Jordyn Romano and Reese Biesemeyer recorded four kills each on .800 and .429 hitting, respectively.
 
All told, 12 different Vikings recorded a kill Saturday. Eikenberg led the Vikings with eight kills, but six different Vikings had at least five in the match.
 
Defensively, senior libero Paige Stepaniuk helped lead the Vikings to their strong showing against the Redhawks. She recorded 20 digs in the match to go with four assists.
 
Saturday's exhibition came six days before the Vikings officially open their season at cross-town rival University of Portland on Aug. 28. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
And while that match will be a lot closer to home than Saturday's exhibition, it's still in enemy territory. But the Vikings showed they might be ready to handle that this year.
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