Portland State University Athletics

Former Pepperdine standout Blossom Sato joined the Portland State coaching staff in February 2020, and will coach her third season with the Vikings during the team's 2022 season.

In 2021, Sato and the rest of the Viking players and coaches relished their best season in a few years. Between chest bumps on the bench after aces, impromptu dance parties in the middle of matches, or water fights between the coaches and players after wins, the Vikings celebrated their:
 

• First national postseason berth since 2010
• First victory in a national postseason tournament in Division I program history (3-2 over Pacific in the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship)
• Most wins since 2017 (20)
• Best Big Sky record since 2013 (12-4)
• Best Big Sky road record since 2011 (6-2)
• Best start to Big Sky play since 2012 (7-1)
• Longest winning streak since 2013 (seven matches from Sept. 25 to Oct. 16)

 
Three different Vikings made the All-Big Sky First Team between Ellie Snook, Makayla Lewis and Parker Webb. All three made their first-ever appearances on the all-conference first team, while Snook and Lewis picked up individual awards, as well. Snook repeated as Big Sky Conference Libero of the Year, becoming just the fifth player in conference history to repeat as Libero of the Year. Lewis, meanwhile, earned the conference’s Top Newcomer award, the Vikings’ first such honoree since Jaklyn Wheeler in 2012. Ally Wada also made the All-Big Sky Second Team.
 
Snook earned her second straight Libero of the Year honor after leading the Big Sky by more than a full dig per set for most of the season. Snook finished the season with 5.14 digs per set, an average that ranked third all-time in school history as well as 20th nationally this season. Snook also set two single-season school records for aces, totaling 50 on the year while averaging 0.42 per set. Both figures broke the school records for the 25-point scoring format that Kalie Patton originally set in 2012.
 
Lewis earned the Top Newcomer honor after leading the Vikings in kills in 12 of their 16 Big Sky matches during the season. Lewis averaged 3.55 kills per set in conference matches, an average that ranked her fourth in the Big Sky. Lewis also averaged close to three digs per set during Big Sky play, as she finished the conference schedule at 2.95 d/s. Nine of Lewis' 14 double-doubles in 2021 came in Big Sky play, while she finished with double-digit kills in all but two conference matches.
 
Additionally, Webb and Zoe McBride each went over 1,000-career kills during the 2021 season. McBride, who spent her first two seasons at Morgan State, hit the mark in the Vikings’ win over Santa Clara on Aug. 28, 2021. Webb, meanwhile, reached the milestone in the Vikings’ win over Montana State on Oct. 16, 2021, becoming the first Viking to record 1,000 kills entirely at Portland State since Whitney Phillips in 2010.  
 
In her first year at Portland State, Sato helped lead the Vikings to a strong finish to a unique 2021 winter season. The Vikings were the last team within the Big Sky Conference to return to full training due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but ended the season with five wins in their last six matches. Additionally, Ellie Snook was named the Big Sky Libero of the Year at the end of the season, while she made the All-Big Sky second team for the second straight season.
 
As a player, Sato led Pepperdine to the second round of the NCAA tournament as a senior in 2018, when she was also named to the All-West Coast Conference first team. Sato started all 31 matches as a senior, when she ranked third in the WCC and 42nd in the nation with 10.76 assists per set. Additionally, Sato played her first two years of collegiate volleyball at Mississippi State, where she recorded the fourth-best assist total by a freshman in program history.
 
Sato spent the 2019 fall season as a volunteer assistant coach at Pepperdine. While on the coaching staff, Sato saw six players earn All-WCC honors, and another two receive AVCA Pacific South Region honors.
  
In addition to her role at Pepperdine, Sato served as an assistant coach at the Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club this past fall, where she designed practices and oversaw scouting and game planning.
 
Sato also spent a year and a half as the head coach for the Oaks Volleyball Club while in college. Sato ran youth clinics, focusing on basic and advanced skills instruction, while at Oaks Volleyball Club, and also designed and ran practices for the club’s players.