Vikings Show Promise In Opening Day Split In El Paso
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EL PASO – The Portland State volleyball squad opened up it's 2011 campaign on Friday with a convincing sweep of Nicholls State at the El Paso Sports Commission Volleyball Invitational, before later dropping a 3-1 decision to host UTEP.
Portland State's season started right as they hit .327 against Nicholls State in a 25-17, 25-15, 25-15 victory, but their youth showed in the loss to UTEP after they hit just .097.
Set scores in the match against the MIners were 25-13, 18-25, 25-15, 25-19.
Vikings Head Coach Michael Seemann said overall that his squad showed some good things, but that his younger players will need to contribute more. Of the 13 players on the roster, six are freshmen and four are sophomores.
"We are going to have to count on two to three freshmen at any given time this season. Tonight they didn't perform the way we need them to in order for us to win," said Seemann.
"I thought overall, though, it was a good experience for us for a first day of competition. Clealy we played better in the first match, but we still didn't do a good job of trusting our systems. The tone didn't change against UTEP. We didn't trust our systems again and it showed against a better team."
The opening frame against Nicholls State was close as it took the Vikings a few minutes to get into a rhythm offensively. PSU handed the Colonels five of their first seven points on three attack errors and a pair of errant serves, but a kill by Aubrey Mitchell broke a 10-all tie and the Vikings closed the set on a 15-7 run.
Portland State wasted little time establishing control of set two, running out to a 6-0 lead behind two kills each from Leigh-Ann Haataja and Kaeli Patton.
Patton played just one frame in the match, but made the most of it, racking up six kills and only one error on 10 swings for a .500 hitting percentage.
In the third stanza the Vikings used a 7-0 run midway through to take command. A kill by Megan Ellis and three straight Nicholls State attack errors made it 14-7. Cheyne Corrado scored next for the Vikings on a kill and then fellow frosh Katie O'Brien put down back-to-back kills to cap the surge and put Portland State up, 17-7.
Ellis paced the Vikings with 15 kills and 14 digs for her fifth career double-double. The junior outside hitter hit .400, committing just three errors on 30 attempts.
O'Brien finished with seven kills and a .500 attack percentage, while senior Nicole Bateham recorded nine digs and two aces.
Nicholls State, which hit just .035, got seven kills each from Jessica Addicks and Rachel Yezak.
Not much went right for Portland State in the nightcap against the host Miners. After the Vikings scored the first point of the match, UTEP scored the next three and never trailed the rest of the set.
Even though they took the second set relatively easy, the Vikings benefited from 13 UTEP attack errors.
PSU hung tough in the next stanza as there were nine tie scores among the first 20 points. But the Miners used a 9-3 run to go up 19-13 and controlled the rest of the set and match.
Ellis tallied another double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs, while O'Brien recorded six kills, a .600 hitting percentage and five total blocks. Bateham led the Vikings with 16 digs.
Seemann praised the play of Bateham and Ellis, both of whom are upperclassmen, saying the duo showed good leadership throughout the two matches.
For UTEP, Bridget Logan finished with 18 kills and Stephanie Figueroa had 19 digs.
The Vikings are back in action tomorrow, playing UT Arlington at 11 a.m. PT, and Southern at 4 p.m. PT. Both matches will feature Gametracker through UTEP's website, UTEPAthletics.com.
NOTES: PSU has won four of its five season openers under Seemann ... the Vikings' .327 attack percentage against Nicholls State was their best mark in a season opener since they hit .316 vs. Bucknell in 2007 ... Bateham served up three of PSU's four aces on the day ... Mitchell had a career-best three blocks vs. the Colonels ... Dominika Kristinikova had a double-double against UTEP with 10 assists and 11 digs ... O'Brien had a good first day, hitting .545 (13-1-22) and averaging 1.00 blocks per set.
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EL PASO – The Portland State volleyball squad opened up it's 2011 campaign on Friday with a convincing sweep of Nicholls State at the El Paso Sports Commission Volleyball Invitational, before later dropping a 3-1 decision to host UTEP.
Portland State's season started right as they hit .327 against Nicholls State in a 25-17, 25-15, 25-15 victory, but their youth showed in the loss to UTEP after they hit just .097.
Set scores in the match against the MIners were 25-13, 18-25, 25-15, 25-19.
Vikings Head Coach Michael Seemann said overall that his squad showed some good things, but that his younger players will need to contribute more. Of the 13 players on the roster, six are freshmen and four are sophomores.
"We are going to have to count on two to three freshmen at any given time this season. Tonight they didn't perform the way we need them to in order for us to win," said Seemann.
"I thought overall, though, it was a good experience for us for a first day of competition. Clealy we played better in the first match, but we still didn't do a good job of trusting our systems. The tone didn't change against UTEP. We didn't trust our systems again and it showed against a better team."
The opening frame against Nicholls State was close as it took the Vikings a few minutes to get into a rhythm offensively. PSU handed the Colonels five of their first seven points on three attack errors and a pair of errant serves, but a kill by Aubrey Mitchell broke a 10-all tie and the Vikings closed the set on a 15-7 run.
Portland State wasted little time establishing control of set two, running out to a 6-0 lead behind two kills each from Leigh-Ann Haataja and Kaeli Patton.
Patton played just one frame in the match, but made the most of it, racking up six kills and only one error on 10 swings for a .500 hitting percentage.
In the third stanza the Vikings used a 7-0 run midway through to take command. A kill by Megan Ellis and three straight Nicholls State attack errors made it 14-7. Cheyne Corrado scored next for the Vikings on a kill and then fellow frosh Katie O'Brien put down back-to-back kills to cap the surge and put Portland State up, 17-7.
Ellis paced the Vikings with 15 kills and 14 digs for her fifth career double-double. The junior outside hitter hit .400, committing just three errors on 30 attempts.
O'Brien finished with seven kills and a .500 attack percentage, while senior Nicole Bateham recorded nine digs and two aces.
Nicholls State, which hit just .035, got seven kills each from Jessica Addicks and Rachel Yezak.
Not much went right for Portland State in the nightcap against the host Miners. After the Vikings scored the first point of the match, UTEP scored the next three and never trailed the rest of the set.
Even though they took the second set relatively easy, the Vikings benefited from 13 UTEP attack errors.
PSU hung tough in the next stanza as there were nine tie scores among the first 20 points. But the Miners used a 9-3 run to go up 19-13 and controlled the rest of the set and match.
Ellis tallied another double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs, while O'Brien recorded six kills, a .600 hitting percentage and five total blocks. Bateham led the Vikings with 16 digs.
Seemann praised the play of Bateham and Ellis, both of whom are upperclassmen, saying the duo showed good leadership throughout the two matches.
For UTEP, Bridget Logan finished with 18 kills and Stephanie Figueroa had 19 digs.
The Vikings are back in action tomorrow, playing UT Arlington at 11 a.m. PT, and Southern at 4 p.m. PT. Both matches will feature Gametracker through UTEP's website, UTEPAthletics.com.
NOTES: PSU has won four of its five season openers under Seemann ... the Vikings' .327 attack percentage against Nicholls State was their best mark in a season opener since they hit .316 vs. Bucknell in 2007 ... Bateham served up three of PSU's four aces on the day ... Mitchell had a career-best three blocks vs. the Colonels ... Dominika Kristinikova had a double-double against UTEP with 10 assists and 11 digs ... O'Brien had a good first day, hitting .545 (13-1-22) and averaging 1.00 blocks per set.
