Recap :
Box Score :
Cumulative Stats PORTLAND, Oregon - Three closely played games all went in the Wolverine's favor in a sweep of Portland State in the Nike Portland Pilot Invitational. UVSC beat PSU, 30-28, 30-28, 33-31, and will play in the championship match Saturday night against host team, University of Portland.
One of the keys to the victory over PSU was UVSC's ability to block on the frontline. The Wolverines had 14 team blocks to the Viking's seven, and they forced27 PSU attack errors.
UVSC had 26 attack errors, and only hit .163 during the match, but the Wolverineswere able to execute key plays when they needed them. A key service ace in thethird game led to the sweep.
-In the third game we were down 28-26, so we called a timeout,- said head coachSam Atoa. -The first play out of the timeout was a service error by PSU, andthen Lacee Koelliker served an ace to tie the score at 28 all. We had severalplays like Lacee's ace that kept us in every game and allowed us to close outthe match.
Koelliker had another solid match setting, as she hooked up with her teammatesfor 38 assists. She called on Alina Wallauer and Krystal Taylor 53 times, andthey were successful with 26 kills combined. Wallauer had 14, while Taylor finishedwith 12. Wallauer was also busy on the defensive side, notching a match-high16 digs. Freshman Chelsea O'Neal broke her string of five consecutive matcheswith double-digit digs, recording nine against PSU.
For PSU, Niki Lambert was the biggest offensive threat, hitting an impressive.577, with a match-high 17 kills. Jessica Brodie finished with 10 kills, butthe Wolverines also forced her into 10 attack errors. Viking setter Rachel Stevenswas busy assisting and digging. She had 37 assists and 14 digs in the match.
-It was a good solid win for us,- said Atoa. -We are excited to play in tonight'schampionship. It should be a good match.-
UP will meet UVSC Saturday night at 8:30 pm (MST), with a perfect 3-0 recordin the tournament. The Wolverines take a 2-1 tournament record into the match,but if they come out on top they will win the tournament due to the head-to-headrule.
UVSC will continue to be on the road next week to play Idaho State in Pocatelloon Tuesday at 7:00 pm (MST), and UNLV on Saturday at 2:00 pm (MST).
