FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. ? Behind a record-setting performance from Jalen Pendon-Thomas, Portland State rallied at Northern Arizona on Thursday night to pick up a 3-1 win and remain undefeated in the Big Sky Conference.
Portland State upped its record to 12-3 overall and 5-0 in the conference, and has won five straight. NAU fell to 10-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Sky.
Set scores were 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23.
Pendon-Thomas set a new PSU record for digs in a four set match, tallying 33, to out-dual the Lumberjacks Brittany Stowers, who had 29 and leads the nation in digs per set.
After losing the opening set, the Vikings found themselves in a hole on the road against an NAU squad that was off to its best start in years. But the Vikings used big rallies in each of the final three sets to get an important road win.
"This team battled back and I'm very proud of how they responded when they were down," said PSU Head Coach Michael Seemann. "It was a packed house in here and very loud, which made a for a tough environment for us.
"This was a really good character win on the road in terms of stepping up to the challenge and winning against a great team in their home gym."
The Vikings held a lead midway through the first set, 12-11, before NAU went on a 4-0 run to take the lead. Portland State responded with a 4-0 run of its own to retake the lead, 16-15. getting kills from Tracy Vargas and Marija Vojnovic and an ace from Diana Villalpando.
But from there, Northern Arizona scored 10 of the final 16 points for the win. PSU was able to close to within one late at 23-22, but committed a service error and a ball handling error to hand NAU the set.
NAU took a 17-12 lead in set two before watching the Vikings close to within a point at 17-16. With the Lumberjacks up 19-17, PSU scored three straight on kills by Christie Hamilton and Vojnovic and an attack error by NAU, to take its first lead since being up 4-3 early.
Up by two, 22-20, Portland State closed out the second set on a 3-0 run, benefiting from two NAU attack errors.
Despite losing the momentum when they lost set two, the Lumberjacks came out firing in the third set, opening up a 5-0 lead on three kills by Alex Fell and two from Emily Osaiadacz. NAU led 8-1 before the Vikings finally got going. Back-to-back kills by Hamilton started a 5-0 run for PSU, and just like that the Vikings were within two, 8-6.
NAU led 14-11 when Portland State used its second 5-0 run of the set to take its first lead, 16-14. The Lumberjacks knotted it back up at 16-16, but another kill by Hamilton ignited a 6-0 Vikings run to essentially put away the set.
Set four appeared to be going NAU's way again, as they jumped out to a 14-8 lead. But once again the Vikings rallied, this time behind a 6-0 run to tie it up. Nique Fradella got the six-point stretch going with a kill and Vojnovic followed it up with three straight of her own.
PSU looked to be on its way to winning, taking a 20-15 lead, yet NAU didn't give in, battling back to within one, 20-19. The Vikings got it to set point, 24-23, and then won it on a kill by Lana Zielke.
"We had some of our attackers struggling and so we really had to rely on our defense tonight," said Seemann, who's team hit just .168. "After getting down we did a much better job of staying patient offensively and we didn't make as many errors. We also did a nice job of digging and transitioning, and got some timely blocks."
Vargas paced PSU with 11 kills, while Vojnovic and Jennifer Oney both had 10. Fradella had 45 assists and Diana Villalpando chipped in 10 digs.
For NAU, Lexi Sullivan registered 18 kills, Fell had 14 and Osaiadacz finished with 12.
MATCH NOTES: PSU has won eight straight over the Lumberjacks dating back to 2004 ... NAU hit .148 for the match ... Hamilton and Zielke both had four blocks to led the Viks ... Hamilton, who had seven kills, hit .375, and was the only player in the match to break the .300 mark ... PSU stays on the road for its next match, traveling to Northern Colorado on Saturday.
