BOXSCORE: Big Sky semifinal - Portland State

PORTLAND -- It's been a remarkable year for Northern Colorado's women's volleyball team.

A mid-May trip to China. A record-setting 6-0 start out of the gate. Taking a game off of perennial national-power Colorado State at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.

And nothing, not even Friday's night's 3-0 loss to Portland State in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament, can put a damper on the Bears' triumphs this season.

Yes, their run ended in front of more than 800 Viking fans inside PSU's Stott Center, but the fact still remains: This squad was perhaps the best team to ever play volleyball at Northern Colorado.

The Bears end the season with 17 wins -- their most ever at the NCAA Division I level -- and a first-team all-conference player within their ranks (junior Kenzie Shreeve).

It's obvious that Northern Colorado coach Lyndsey Benson would have loved to have kept competing and ultimately play for college volleyball's ultimate prize, but it's also understandable that following the season-ending defeat, she was finding trouble putting into words just how proud she was of her program.

"Certainly, this match doesn't define our season," Benson said. "We had a great year, we're taking the right steps as a program, and I couldn't be more proud of this group of 15 players, and our staff included."

Shreeve has been the Bears' rock all season, and that didn't change Friday night in the Rose City. She finished her season with a 15-kill performance against the Vikings, bringing her season total to 408. She also had nine digs.

Junior Breanna VanDerMost, who earlier in the day Friday had a career performance (29 digs) in the Bears' quarterfinal victory against Sacramento State, became just the 19th member of Northern Colorado's 1,000-digs club. Her 16 against Portland State pushed her to the 1,006 mark.

She still has a year remaining with the Bears to further entrench her self as one of the best defensive players Northern Colorado has ever seen.

Junior Allison Raguse, who was twiced honored as Big Sky Conference Player of the Week this season, finished her junior season with a bang. She had 13 kills Friday night (275 this season), but she only committed two errors.

That resulted in a sizzling .458 hitting percentage.

Lauren Carter, the lone senior on this year's squad, finished her career with another solid performance from the setter position. She had 34 more Friday night, bringing her season total to 1,113 and her career total to 2,140 (seventh on the Bears' all-time list).

And with a potential coup of a recruiting class waiting in the wings, there's little doubt that the statement Benson's Bears made this season was just the beginning.

Northern Colorado will be back.

"We really proved we could play with the top teams in this conference this year -- we defeated the top two teams during the course of the season," Benson said, "and we proved that we deserve to be a the top of this conference. This season was a huge step for Northern Colorado.

"I couldn't be more proud of these girls. They fought hard tonight."

2008 ALL-BIG SKY TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Nique Fradella, Portland State – MVP
• Christie Hamilton, Portland State
• Tracy Vargas, Portland State
• Mandy Daniels, Eastern Washington
• Hayley Hills, Eastern Washington
• Allison Raguse, Northern Colorado
• Breanna Van Der Most, Northern Colorado