MATCH 1 ? PSU VS. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
Friday, Aug. 29 ? 4:00 p.m. ? Corvallis, OR (Gill Coliseum)
Livestats: www.GoViks.com

MATCH 2 ? PSU VS. WYOMING
Saturday, Aug. 30 ? 10:00 a.m. ? Corvallis, OR (Gill Coliseum)
Livestats: www.GoViks.com

MATCH 3 ? PSU AT OREGON STATE
Saturday, Aug. 30 ? 8:00 p.m. ? Corvallis, OR (Gill Coliseum)
Livestats: www.GoViks.com

THIS WEEK: The PSU volleyball team opens up the 2008 season by traveling down the I-5 corridor to Corvallis for the Oregon State Invitational. The Vikings will play three matches over two days, starting with a 4:00 p.m. contest on Friday, Aug. 29 against the College of Charelston. On Saturday, PSU will face Wyoming at 10:00 a.m., before taking on the host Beavers at 8:00 p.m.

FOLLOW THE VIKINGS ONLINE: This season you can follow the Vikings matches online by going to www.GoViks.com and clicking on the Live Stats link under the Multimedia heading on the right-hand side of the page. You can also watch all PSU home matches and selected road matches online via live video streaming through Big Sky TV. You can access that by going to www.bigskytv.org. Long-time PSU athletic department coach and staff member Teri Mariani will be calling the play-by-play.

BIG EXPECTATIONS: Portland State has been picked to win the 2008 Big Sky Conference title according to a vote by the league coaches. It marks the first time since joining the Big Sky in 1996 that the Vikings have been favored in the preseason. The Vikings received five first-place votes and a total of 61 points, which put them eight points in front of Sacramento State. The Hornets tallied three first-place votes and 53 points, followed by Weber State, which came in third with 50 points. Eastern Washington was picked to finish fourth with 49 points and received the only other first-place vote. Northern Colorado was tabbed to finish fifth with 34 points, followed by Montana (30), Northern Arizona (24), Idaho State (12) and Montana State (11).

WHOSE BACK?: PSU returns five starters as well as junior outside hitter Lindsey Steele, who was a starter before suffering a season-ending knee injury early on. In all, PSU returns nine letterwinners, two redshirt freshmen, and welcomes in two freshman and transfer Lana Zielke, who played last season at Oregon. Also back is junior setter Nique Fradella, who was a second team all-conference pick last season and twice was named the Big Sky Player of the Week in 2007. The other returning starters include: senior DS/L Jalen Pendon-Thomas, junior OH Marija Vojnovic, junior MB Erica Jepsen, and sophomore MB Christie Hamilton. Junior OH Jennifer Oney also returns and was a key contributor off the bench, as was sophomore DS Diana Villalpando. Junior S Savannah Reid is also back.

WHOSE GONE?: While the Vikings lose just one starter from last year's squad, it is a big loss. First team All-Big Sky Middle blocker Michelle Segun graduated after leading the conference in blocks per game and also ranking in the top 10 in points per game (5th), kills per game (6th) and hitting percentage (7th). Segun was a big reason the Vikings led the Big Sky in blocking and hitting percentage and ranked second in kills. Jacqueline Thomas also is gone after ranking eighth in the Big Sky in digs per game.

THE NEWCOMERS: Head coach Michael Seemann is excited about the additions to this year's team. Seemann brought in two freshman from high school and a transfer from the University of Oregon to go along with two players that redshirted last season. Lana Zielke transfers to the Park Blocks after seeing action in six matches a year ago at Oregon. A local product of Gresham High, Zielke was a first team all-state player as a senior. She will help fill the void left by Segun's graduation. Back this season as redshirt freshmen are DS Nicole Bateham and MB/OH Tracy Vargas. Bateham had a good off-season and should compete for time in the back row, while Vargas also had a good off-season and could see time at the middle blocker position. The two high schoolers brought in, outside hitters Megan Ellis and Alexa Rosendale, have impressive credentials, but are most likely to redshirt because of the depth that PSU has at their position.

SCOUTING COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: The Vikings open up the season against The College of Charleston Cougars on Friday at 4:00 p.m. Second-year head coach Jason Kepner's Cougars return two starters and eight letterwinners from a team that went 26-8 overall and 16-2 in the Southern Conference last season. The Cougars were recently picked to win the Southern Conference in the preseason poll, and have won seven-straight regular season titles and four-straight tournament championships. Junior OH Emily Swain and sophomore S/OH Cole Dawley were both named to the preseason All-Southern Conference team, and Dawley was the conference's Freshman of the Year last season.

PSU vs. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON HISTORY: This will be the first meeting between the schools.

SCOUTING WYOMING: The Cowgirls have been tabbed to finish eighth out of nine teams in the preseason Mountain West Conference poll. Wyoming returns two starters and eight letterwinners from last year's squad that was 12-14 and 6-10 in the MWC. First-year head coach Carrie Yerty will look to returning starters Tasha Weishahn (Sr., S) and Lauren Whitney (So., OH) to lead the team. Weishahn led the MWC in aces last year and also ranked fourth in assists, while Whitney averaged 2.44 kpg and 1.54 dpg. Senior libero Carissa Lee averaged 4.12 dpg a year ago, which was good for the seventh-best mark in the conference.

PSU vs. WYOMING HISTORY: This will be the first meeting between the schools.

SCOUTING OREGON STATE: Fourth-year head coach Taras Liskevych welcomes back five starters and 11 letterwinners from last year's team that posted a 10-20 overall record and went 3-15 in the Pac-10. OSU's biggest weapon is junior OH Rachel Rourke, who averaged 4.25 kpg last year and was a first team All-Pac-10 pick. The Beavers also return senior S Ashley Evans (4.06 dpg), junior OH Bree Knitter (1.26 bpg) and sophomore OH Jill Sawatzky (2.96 kpg). OSU was recently picked to finish ninth in conference in the preseason poll.

PSU vs. OREGON STATE HISTORY: The Vikings lead the all-time series 32-9, but OSU has won the last four in the series. The two teams last met in 2005 at the NIKE Portland Pilot Preview, with the Beavers winning in four games (30-19, 17-30, 30-26, 30-21).

2007...A YEAR OF FIRSTS: The 2007 season was without a doubt the Vikings best since making the jump to NCAA Division I play in 1996. PSU not only won 21 games for the third-straight year, but they also won their first-ever Big Sky regular season championship and advanced to the Big Sky Tournament Championship match for the first time in school history. All of these accomplishments came under the watch of first-year head coach Michael Seemann, who took over the reigns from long-time head coach Jeff Mozzochi, who has remained on as the associate head coach and program director.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS : Among the Vikings nine returning letterwinners are four players that saw action in all 105 games last season. Nique Fradella, Erica Jepsen, Jalen Pendon-Thomas and Marija Vojnovic all played in every game, while Jennifer Oney played in 104 games, Diana Villalpando appeared in 103 games and Christie Hamilton saw action in 98 games.