No volleyball team in Portland, Ore. could stand in the way of Wichita State as they defeated three opponents at the Portland Nike Invitational.

WSU’s first match was against Utah State was close. WSU had to go on a 9-0 run to defeat Utah State in five sets.

Ashley Andrade helped lead the Shocks with 16 kills; Elizabeth Field had 12 kills of her own.

“Once we figured things out and played how we do in practice, it all fell into place for us,” Andrade said.

A back-and-forth match from the beginning, WSU found its stride and got momentum for the rest of the weekend with the win. They beat the Utah State University Aggies 23-25, 25-17, 25-19, 24-26, 15-7.

In the second match of the weekend, the Shockers played host team Portland and brought the brooms with them. Chelsey Feekin led WSU with six kills, 34 assists and 12 digs.

Fending off six set points, the team rallied in the second set of the match to really put Portland away. Although Portland led 17-11 in the third set and would not go down easy, the Shockers showed just as much determination.

Slowly clawing back into the set, they were tied at 20 a piece after a monster block from Katie Reilly. WSU would go on to beat Portland 25-11, 33-31, 25-23.

“Portland had good pin players,” Feekin said. “Trying to work our middles as much as we could helped keep their blocking off balance.”

WSU’s last match in Portland faced Fresno State and came away with a 3-1 win to win the Nike Invitational. WSU won by scores 19-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-11.

It took a little bit of time for the Shockers to warm up, allowing FSU to jump ahead in the first set 12-5. Although WSU would tie at 13, ultimately FSU went on an 11-2 run to close out the first set.

The second set was routine for WSU and was easily won. The third set proved most difficult to take from the Bull Dogs. The teams traded blows and were neck and neck down the stretch. Two back-to-back kills from Sam Sanders gave WSU a 25-23 set win.

“I think we are getting comfortable and starting to get in rhythm with each other, which is helping us in these close matches,” Feekin said.

Even though the Shockers started the season ranked in the top 25 after an early season loss to Arizona State, they dropped out. The ranking change does not seem to affect the team.

“We haven’t really thought about the rankings to be honest. We just work hard to be the best team we can be,” Andrade said.

The volleyball team next plays Friday against East Tennessee State with first serve at 9 a.m. in Knoxville, Tenn.