Volleyball loses close matches on the road
The Vikings ended their 2001 season with two consecutive losses to Sacramento State and Northern Arizona. Their road trip last week yielded similar results as Portland State fell to the Hornets in four fairly close games (30-25, 30-23, 27-30, 30-23) and fell to the Lumberjacks in four, as well.
Richell Wilson turned in another team-leading performance with 15 kills, just three kills shy of her total against the Hornets last season. Katie Kost added 13 kills and five blocks, while sophomore Rachel Mogan had 11 kills. Stephanie Lavinge helped out with 41 assists and a team-high 14 digs.
The Vikings have had a hard time containing Hornet Lisa Beauchene, who led her team in the 2001 season-ender with 51 assists and 13 kills. This time, she was able to post 44 assists and 10 kills. Jayme Wright also proves to be a recurring challenge for the Vikings, improving on last season’s double-double 12 kills and 13 digs, with an impressive 17 kills and 18 digs on Thursday night.
The Hornet’s victory propelled them to a Big Sky Conference record of 5-1, while the Vikings dropped to 1-5.
The 2001 season-ending loss to Sacramento State came hard on the heels of the loss to Big Sky rival Northern Arizona.
Portland State has only faced the Lumberjacks 12 times in league history and has only managed to pull out one win in 1997. The Vikings were hoping to put an end to the losing streak in Flagstaff this past Saturday. They weren’t able to pull it off.
Portland State started out strong, taking the 7-3 lead early on in game one. Shortly after, Northern Arizona took a time out to regroup and came back with a 14-6 run. The Vikings were never able to regain the upper hand and lost the set 30-24.
The Vikings took the early lead again in game two with a score of 17-11. The Lumberjacks fought their way back and trailed by only a point at 22-21 late in the set. The teams found themselves tied at 29, but Northern Arizona was able to take the game 32-30.
The home team also came away with a 30-25 win in game three, sweeping the Vikings in straight sets. They added yet another victory to their all-time series with PSU, which is now at 12-1. The Vikings are currently on a three-game losing streak that began last weekend with a loss to Weber State.
Things will not get any easier for the Vikings this week when they take on Montana and Montana State at the Peter Stott Center on Friday and Sunday. PSU lost its previous matches this season against both competitors. The key to a win, according to head coach Jeff Mozzochi, lies in the group dynamic.
“We’ve been getting good individual performances on any given night,” Mozzochi said after a loss to the University of Portland two weeks ago, “but we need several great performances to pull the team together for a win.”
