Photo Credit: Andrea Wright Nicole Bateham led PSU with 12 digs at Montana State on Saturday.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland State got a combined 25 kills from Whitney Phillips and Marija Vojnovic, and held Montana State to just a .027 hitting percentage, as the Vikings won their fifth in a row with a straight sets win at Montana State on Saturday. Set scores were 25-16, 25-23, 25-13.

On a night where their hitting wasn't as sharp as it had been the past two weeks, the Vikings relied on their defense to pick up their fifth straight sweep and 10th win in a row over the Bobcats. Coupled with Eastern Washington's 3-1 loss at Montana tonight, the Vikings (16-7) are now alone in first place with a 10-2 Big Sky record. They have a one-half game lead over Northern Colorado (9-2).

Portland State's 10-2 conference record matches the 2007 Big Sky Champion squad for the best start in school history.

"It was a tough road trip for us and it's great to come out of here with a couple of wins," said Portland State head coach Michael Seemann. "We got some pretty good contributions from a lot of individuals."

Phillips turned in a match-high 13 kills and led the Vikings for the 21st time this year. She narrowly missed a double-double, as she also dug nine balls.

Vojnovic was sharp for the second night in a row. One night after registering 12 kills and a .300 hitting percentage at Montana, the senior tallied 12 more kills and hit .379. She also just missed a double-double with nine digs.

The Vikings opened the night hitting .387 in the first set. They turned a 10-5 lead into a 16-7 advantage, starting their run with back-to-back kills by Phillips.

In the final set, the Vikings ran out to a 7-2 lead, getting an ace from Nique Fradella and two more from Vojnovic. They finished with a .318 hitting percentage, while the Bobcats struggled with a -.069 mark.

Montana State's .027 attack percentage was the second lowest of the year by a Viking opponent, and the lowest by a conference foe. The Bobcats got six kills from Taylar Barney, and 16 digs from Meghan Albiston.

Portland State returns to the Park Blocks to host Eastern Washington next Friday at 7 p.m. The Vikings close out the regular season with three of their final four matches at the Stott Center.

MATCH NOTES: Erica Jepsen had three block assists, giving her 330 for her career. That moves her up one spot to No. 5 in the PSU record book ... Nicole Bateham led the Vikings with 12 digs ... Vojnovic finished with three service aces, and Fradella tallied two ... Fradella had a match-high 37 assists ... Montana State fell to 3-18 overall and 1-10 in the BSC.