PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State volleyball team took care of business Thursday night against Idaho State, so it can potentially give the conference the business Saturday night against Weber State.
The Vikings swept the Bengals, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-19), Thursday at Viking Pavilion, and can now draw level with Weber State for first in the Big Sky standings with a win Saturday. The Wildcats entered the day two matches clear of the Vikings, but lost in three sets to Sacramento State Saturday to open up an opportunity for the Vikings.
Thursday didn't make for the prettiest of lead-ins for the Vikings before Saturday's big match, but it still did the job. The Vikings hit over .200 in only one of the three sets, while hitting into 10 blocks at the net.
Despite all that, the Vikings (15-7, 9-2 Big Sky) still had three players finish with nine kills while hitting north of .400 in Ashleigh Barto (.438), Zoe McBride (.412) and Maddy Reeb (.467). Additionally, the Viking defense held the Bengals (6-17, 2-9 Big Sky) to .074 hitting, and hit .000 combined in the second and third sets.
"We got some kills from people from different areas of the court," Seemann said of the team's offense. "Middles going behind the setter off one foot, which is something we haven't done much, and running the X a little bit more. Just that offensive adaptability, I think, is key for us and our ability to advance our offense in different ways and get production in different ways."
The Vikings started slow in the first set, recording kills on only two of their first seven points in the match while falling behind 17-14. A one-handed set from Ally Wada that Genevieve Florig put away kicked off a 5-0 PSU run that put the Vikings up for good at 19-17. McBride recorded two kills during the run, the first to tie it at 17-all, with the second to give the Vikings a 19-17 lead.
The Vikings closed it out a few points later, completing a turnaround within the set. After recording only two kills through the early part of the set, 15 of the Vikings' final 18 points in the frame came on kills. McBride and Makayla Lewis led the way with five kills each, with McBride hitting .714 as her five kills came on only seven swings.
"Offensively, we were playing okay. We made a few unforced errors, I thought. But defensively, we were early and anxious, but we settled into that halfway through the first set," Seemann said.
Barto had the exact same stat line in the second set as McBride had in the first, hitting .714 with five kills on only seven swings. Lewis also had five kills again in the second set, which proved to be the Vikings' best set of the night. The Vikings hit .308 with 17 kills in the second set, while holding the Bengals to .051 hitting on the other side of the net.
After starting slow in the first set, the Vikings scored the first six points of the second set, and led 17-7 by the time the Bengals took their first timeout of the set. McBride and Lewis recorded kills on back-to-back points that closed out the set and gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead.
The teams went back-and-forth in the third set, with both teams struggling to find a rhythm on offense. After totaling 17 kills in each of the first two sets, the Vikings only had 11 in the third set while hitting .031 in the frame. Fortunately, the Viking defense forced the Bengals into negative-.074 hitting, while limiting them to only seven kills in the set.
A couple of key runs gave the Vikings the upper hand in the set. First, a 6-1 run that featured four ISU attack errors turned a 7-5 deficit into an 11-8 lead. The Bengals came back to level the match at 12-all, but the Vikings responded with four straight points to re-take control of the set. Reeb recorded two kills and a block with Florig during the run, while libero Ellie Snook added an ace for the Vikings.
Lewis led all players with 11 kills in the match to go with five digs and three blocks. McBride and Wada also each finished one stat away from a double-double, as McBride added 12 digs to her nine kills, while Wada finished with 19 assists and nine digs. Florig, meanwhile, led all players with five blocks, while Barto, Reeb and McBride added two blocks each behind Lewis' three.
Snook finished with a match-high 15 digs, nine of which came in the first set.
The Vikings can now turn their full attention to Weber State Saturday, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. It's been a long time since the Vikings had a match for first place in the Big Sky, but that's the position the Vikings put themselves in after taking care of business Thursday against the Bengals.
Match Notes: The Vikings improved to 38-26 all-time against the Bengals with Thursday's win…Snook can pass Jessica Brodie (2003-06) for fourth in career digs during the program's Division I era (1996-pres.) with 18 more digs…The Vikings out-aced the Bengals 6-to-1, with Snook and Wada recording two aces each.
"first" - Google News
October 29, 2021 at 01:04PM
https://ift.tt/3vVYvr4
Vikings Sweep Idaho State, Set Up Battle for First in Big Sky against Weber State Saturday - Portland State Vikings
"first" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2QqCv4E
https://ift.tt/3bWWEYd
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Vikings Sweep Idaho State, Set Up Battle for First in Big Sky against Weber State Saturday - Portland State Vikings"
Post a Comment