9/25/2008 7:00:00 AM

Vargas Leads Vikings Past Montana

PORTLAND, Ore. ? Tracy Vargas had a career-high 12 kills and hit .529 to lead Portland State to a 3-1 win over Montana on Thursday evening in Big Sky Conference action.

Set scores were 25-13, 26-24, 22-25, 25-15.

Portland State extended its Big Sky home winning streak to 26 matches, and improved to 10-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Montana fell to 6-7 and 2-1.

In a matchup of the only two undefeated teams in the Big Sky, it was the Vikings who came out hot to set the tone.

The Vikings hit a scorching .517 (17-2-29) in the first set, and after a 7-7 tie they led the rest of the way.

A Montana service error gave PSU its eighth point and started a 4-0 Vikings run, and the Grizziles weren't able to recover.

Vargas, getting the start at middle blocker for the injured Erica Jepsen, had five kills and hit .833 (5-0-6) in the set, while Lana Zielke added four kills and hit a perfect 1.000.

Set two was close throughout, and featured 12 tie scores and six lead changes.

PSU led late, 20-18, before Montana scored three-straight points to go in front. The Vikings went back in front, 22-21, after a kill by Vargas and an attack error by the Grizzlies.

Montana responded with another 3-0 run to go back in front, 24-22, and take it to set point, but the Vikings responded by scoring the final four points to get the 26-24 win.

The Grizzlies took control early in set three, going up 10-6 on an ace by Taryn Wright. They later led 14-9 on a kill by Jaimie Thibeault, but the Vikings fought back to tie at 14-14, getting two kills from Lindsey Steele during the 5-0 run.

Montana went up 18-15 on a kill by Amy Roberts and the Vikings could only get within one, at 20-19, the rest of the way.

The Vikings broke away from a 6-6 tie in the fourth set and led the remainder of the way. A kill by Christie Hamilton put PSU up 22-15, and Marija Vojnovic followed that up with an ace. The Vikings scored the final two points of the set, getting kills from Zielke and Steele, to close on a 4-0 run.

Four PSU players notched at least 10 kills. Vargas' 12 led the way, while Jennifer Oney had 11, and Hamilton and Steele each finished with 10.

Nique Fradella had 51 assists for PSU, setting a new season-high, and also had 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.

Jalen Pendon-Thomas led all players with 21 digs for the Vikings, while Steele finished with a double-double, digging 16 balls to go with her 10 kills.

Roberts paced Montana with 15 kills while adding 11 digs, Thibeault finished with 11 kills, and Brittney Brown had 18 digs.

Portland State continues Big Sky play when they host Montana State on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

MATCH NOTES: Vojnovic just missed out a double-double, tallying eight kills and 10 digs ... she also added four aces and Pendon-Thomas had three as the pair totaled all seven of the Vikings aces ... PSU improved to 7-0 when one of it's players finishes with a double-double ... Vargas led the Viks with five total blocks ... PSU hit .277 for the match, while Montana hit .164 ... Portland State now has a 39-14 lead in the all-time series, and takes a 13-12 lead in the Big Sky series.

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