VOLLEYBALL FALLS IN FOUR AT PORTLAND STATE, EARNS THE NO. 2 SEED FOR NEXT WEEK’S BIG SKY TOURNAMENT

11/17/2007

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Michelle Segun had a team-best 15 kills, including consecutive kills at 28-28 in the fourth game to lead Portland State to a 3-1 (25-30, 30-27, 30-27, 30-28) victory over Sacramento State in the Big Sky Conference volleyball regular season finales for both teams Saturday night at the Stott Center.

With the victory, Sacramento State concludes the regular season 26-7 overall and 13-3 in the Big Sky. Portland State finishes the year 20-7 and 13-3 in the conference. The Vikings win the tiebreaker between the two teams and earn the No. 1 seed for next week’s Big Sky Tournament (Nov. 23-24) in Sacramento. Sacramento State will gain the No. 2 seed, and both the Hornets and Vikings will have a first-round bye in the tournament. In addition, by virtue of gaining the No. 1 seed, Portland State has earned the right to host next year’s Big Sky Tournament (the Big Sky recently adopted the rule where the regular season champion hosts the following year’s conference tournament).

PSU gets the tiebreaker because Sacramento State defeated the Vikings in five games earlier this season, and Portland State won in four games tonight. So, PSU won the game differential tiebreaker. Had the Hornets scraped together a couple more points and forced a fifth game, Sacramento State would have likely won the tiebreaker based on having a better points differential in the two matches (the Hornets were a +8 heading into tonight).

Still, even with the loss, Sacramento State gains a share of the Big Sky’s regular season title and have now won either the league’s regular season and/or tournament championship each of the last 11 years. The Hornets will play the highest remaining seed on Friday, Nov. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Big Sky Tournament semifinals. Complete schedule for the tournament is listed below this story.

The pivotal game four went back and forth as no team held a lead larger than four points during the entire frame. In fact, Sacramento State had a 20-16 lead before Portland State used a 5-1 run to tie the score at 21-21. The Hornets’ last lead in the game would come at 27-26 before consecutive kills from Marijua Vojnovic gave the Vikings a 28-27 lead. Hornet senior Missie Stidham tied things at 28-28 with a kill, but Segun finished the match with consecutive kills to ice the victory.

The statistics for both teams were nearly identical, including Sacramento State leading in kills (72-70), Portland State leading in hitting percentage (.210-.205) and the two teams tied in both aces (4) and team blocks (12.0). The Vikings, however, held a 104-93 advantage in digs.

Five Portland State players had double figures in kills, comprised of Segun (15), Jennifer Oney (14), Vojnovic (13), Erica Jepsen (12) and Dominique Fradella (10). Jacqueline Thomas led five Vikings with double figures in digs as she posted a match-high tying 28.

Stidham was dominant again as the senior outside hitter posted a career-high 34 kills, tied for the fourth best mark in program single-match history. She had 34 of the team’s 72 kills and tacked on 21 digs, three blocks and a .276 hitting percentage. The only other Hornet with more than eight kills was senior middle hitter Lindsay Haupt, who finished with 16 kills, a .300 hitting percentage and three blocks. Sophomore Desiree Hoyum added six kills and a team-best .462 hitting percentage, senior Michelle Franz led all players with eight blocks, and freshman Chelsea Goodsell had 28 digs.

The Hornets also had a 27-26 lead in the second game, but Portland State closed on a 4-0 run to gain the game and the momentum.

BIG SKY TOURNAMENT (Nov. 23-24 at the Hornets Nest in Sacramento)

Quarterfinal No. 1
Friday, Nov. 23, 9:30 a.m.
No. 4 Weber State vs. No. 5 Northern Colorado

Quarterfinal No. 2
Friday, Nov. 23, 11:30 a.m. (or 30 minutes after Quarterfinal 1)
No. 3 Eastern Washington vs. No. 6 Northern Arizona

Semifinal No. 1
Friday, Nov. 23, 5:30 p.m.
No. 1 Portland State vs. lowest remaining seed

Semifinal No. 2
Friday, Nov. 23, 7:30 p.m. (or 30 minutes after Semifinal 1)
No. 2 Sacramento State vs. highest remaining seed

Championship Match
Saturday, Nov. 24, 7:00 p.m.
Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2