After two losses on the road this past weekend, the Portland State women’s volleyball team looks to beef up its record.
Friday and Saturday night saw two disappointing losses for the Vikings, although the competition was fierce.
Friday night’s match against the Idaho State Bengals was a close one. The final game scores were 30-28, 30-24 and 30-27, all in favor of Idaho State. The games were tight, but the Vikings weren’t able to come away with a victory.
One Viking who hasn’t seen much action this year, Bree Schaaf, came out swinging. Both Schaff and Kristina Thom had eight kills on the night. Richell Wilson was the kill leader once again with 12 overall. Nicole Geils recorded five kills on the night and had no errors in 10 attempts.
Back-up setter Jeannie Robison, who is filling in for the injured Katie Kaysinger, had a big night with 35 assists.
After playing the Bengals, the Vikings had an even bigger challenge ahead of them on Saturday night as they faced the Weber State Wildcats.
Weber State, which has climbed to the top of the Big Sky League at 5 -1, proved to be too much for the Vikings. The Wildcats showed their dominance by defeating the Vikings 30-22, 30-14 and 30-15.
With Katie Kaysinger absent from action, Robison stepped up and recorded 30 assists. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to secure a win over the Wildcats.
Weber State shut down Portland State at the net. The Wildcats had a total of 12.5 team blocks. Partly because of the excellent blocking by the Wildcats, Portland State accumulated 33 hitting errors. This and Weber State’s offensive prowess put the game in the bag for the Wildcats.
Once again, the Vikings were led by Wilson, who had 12 kills on the night. Next in line was Thom with seven kills.
The Wildcats got most of their offense from Natasha Widdison, who had 14 kills and recorded six blocks. She was trailed by Stephanie Metcalf, who came alive by scoring 11 kills and eight digs.
The Vikings hope to put some more wins on their record this coming weekend when they host two home matches against Sacramento State (10-5) Friday night and last year’s Big Sky Champions Northern Arizona (9-3) Saturday night. Both matches will take place in the Peter Stott Center at 7 p.m.